Gatehouse And Courtyard Ranges 30 Metres West Of Ingatestone Hall

Gatehouse and courtyard range 30 metres west of Ingatestone Hall, located on Hall Lane at Ingatestone.

This is a 16th-century building, altered in the 15th century and extended in the 19th century. It is constructed of red brick in English bond with plastered timber-framing, roofed with handmade red clay tiles. The building is arranged in an L-plan.

The western range comprises a central entrance bay, a 3-bay court hall to the south, and a 3-bay lodgings range to the north. Both ranges face inwards towards a courtyard and are of two storeys.

The court hall has one 19th-century external stack and a small single-storey lean-to to the west. The lodgings range has a 2-storey lean-to to the west enclosing one large stack (originally external) and one 19th-century stack. The northern range comprises 4-5 bays with 3 internal rear stacks and one 16th-century rear stack (originally external, now enclosed by a 2-storey lean-to), and a 2-bay cross-wing at the east end with an internal rear stack and single-storey lean-to rear.

The entrance bay contains a full-width vehicle way through with 16th-century brickwork on each side and a semi-elliptical plastered arch. The gateway has jetties to front and back, each with 4 beams with mortices for missing brackets. To the front is one late 18th-century sash of 6+6 lights. To the rear, below the jetty, is a painted plaster crest of 2 lions, and above it a 15th-century 3-light window with one wrought-iron casement, 2 fixed lights, and leaded diamond glazing. The entrance bay has an 18th-century pyramidal roof with a square clock turret and a restored or rebuilt bell-turret. The front and back of the clock turret bear painted clock faces with a single hand and the painted motto "Sans Dieu Rien".

The front of the court hall range is of brick up to first-floor level, much patched and altered, with 18th-century zigzag patterned plaster on timber-framing above. It has 2 Tudor Revival doorways, and on the first floor one loading door and two 19th-century cast-iron casements of 12+12 small panes. 20th-century large sliding doors are at the rear.

The front of the lodgings range north of the gateway is of 16th-century brick to first-floor level with similar patterned plaster above. It has one original doorway with hollow-chamfered oak jambs and 4-centred arch, with chamfered outer oak jambs and lintel and a plain boarded door. One former door aperture is closed with 18th-century brick. On the ground floor are two 19th-century casements, and on the first floor two 18th-century casements with rectangular leaded glazing.

The rear lean-to has a slate roof. The northern range is wholly plastered with a projecting band at first-floor level but is probably of 16th-century brick to that level with timber-framing above. It has on the ground floor four 18th-century 4-light casements with rectangular leaded glazing, and on the first floor 6 sashes of 8+8 lights (early 19th century or replica), and 2 half-glazed doors. The main rear stack is of 16th-century brick with stepped offsets rising almost to ridge level, rebuilt above. The 2-storey lean-to has a slate roof, and the single-storey lean-to is roofed with red clay pantiles. The roof of the entrance bay was rebuilt in the 18th century, reusing 16th-century timber. An early 18th-century clock mechanism is present, maker not identified.

Internally, the court hall has jowled posts and close studding with "Suffolk" braces trenched to the outside, with chamfered arched braces to straight tie-beams without partitions on either storey. It has a complete crownpost roof with axial bracing. The part of this range north of the entrance way has an original newel stair and adjacent framing, and a similar crownpost roof. The northern range was not examined internally, but the height suggests that the roof has been raised.

Historical note: this building is depicted in elevation in a detailed map of 1605 by John Walkers (father and son), where most of the present features are identifiable. At that time there was a third range to the south of the courtyard, the entrance bay had a gabled roof, and there was a gabled cross-wing at each end of each range, 2 of which are now absorbed in the present corner structure. The main stack of the northern range is exactly as shown then, as are the 2 doorways. The carpentry of the western range indicates construction in the middle of the 16th century or earlier. As Sir William Petre leased the site from Barking Abbey in 1538 and brought it from the Court of Augmentations in 1539, this range may date either from that period or it may be a court hall erected by Barking Abbey. The use of late medieval crownpost construction here, in contrast to the typically post-medieval forms in the roof of Ingatestone Hall itself, suggests the latter possibility, in which case it is the earliest building on the site.