The Shepherd Public House

The Shepherd Public House is a timber-framed public house, largely dating to the late 16th century, with elements from around 1700 and the late 19th century. It is situated on Blackmore Road in Kelvedon Hatch. The building has an H-plan, with an additional block attached to the east cross-wing. The main block has two storeys and a three-window front, featuring C20 wooden casements with glazing bars on the ground floor. The cross-wings feature horned sash windows with four-by-four panes. The eastern block, believed to have originally been a brewhouse, has a hipped roof, weatherboarding, and a restored C19 casement window on the ground floor – originally louvred vents – and a C20 casement with diamond leaded lights on the first floor. The public house has red brick chimney stacks, including a prominent one to the central block and an end stack on each cross-wing, along with two smaller stacks associated with the brewhouse.

The interior of the earliest part of the house, the east cross-wing, displays late 16th-century features including internal curved tension bracing and stout studding of a transverse partition with face halved and bladed scarf on wall plate. There are also deep section floor joists with diminished haunches and a window aperture on the ground floor. The central block likely dates to the same period, exhibiting a first-floor tie-beam with joints for small arched braces, and floor joists with pendant soffits. A C1700 section has primary bracing and cogged floor joists. The first-floor transverse partition contains carpenters’ marks in Roman numerals from 3 to 7. A staircase on the rear of the east block, dating to the early 18th century, features turned balusters and a shaped handrail. The rear elevation was straightened in the 19th century using yellow brick, with the three gables extended to cover the brewhouse. The rear elevation also incorporates irregular 19th- and 20th-century windows, including a sash window with side lights and another with slightly arched heads. A ground-floor window has three-by-four panes, while a first-floor window is a two-by-four sash.