Moat House

Moat House

The Moat House is a timber-framed house, now used as a hotel, located on London Road in South Weald, Brentwood. It represents a complex building history spanning the early 16th century through to the 20th century, with phases of development in the late 16th century, late 17th century, 19th century, and 20th century. The building retains its original timber-frame structure with a hipped peg-tiled roof. It has a rectangular plan with a continuous 19th-century out-shut to the rear and major 19th and 20th-century additions to the sides and rear, which are not included in this listing.

The exterior presents as two storeys with attics and has chimneys at both the east and west ends. The north front elevation is particularly complex, resulting from late 16th-century infilling between the early 16th-century projecting cross-wings of an 'H' hall house. A continuous jetty runs between these wings, decorated with an applied early 19th-century Greek key design, and the eaves feature an 18th-century cornice. The façade can be analysed in two parts: the cross-wings and the central range.

The east cross-wing displays jowled corner posts and close studding with stud braces. At ground-floor level, the centre is arched, with an early 19th-century canted bay window set within the original aperture, complete with cornice and casement windows with glazing bars (2x2, 2x4, 2x2 panes). The first-floor window is a 20th-century 2-light casement with an upper light and diamond lattice panes, which is deeper than the original aperture.

The west cross-wing has unjowled corner posts with stud bracing. Its ground floor contains an early 19th-century canted bay window, larger than the original aperture (the stud posts have been moved outward), with glazing bars arranged as 1x4, 2x4, 2x4, 1x4 panes. The first-floor window is a 20th-century 2-light casement with a top-light of diamond lattice panes, narrower and deeper than the original aperture.

The central range at ground-floor level contains an east-west 3-light mullioned window with frieze ovolo moulding, restored with diamond lattice work. A 19th-century canted bay sash window with cornice and glazing bars (2x4, 2x4, 2x4 panes) stands beside two 2-light frieze windows, also restored with diamond lattice. A 20th-century door, boarded within a 'Tudor' frame, occupies the cross passage site.

On the first floor, the studding is particularly close, featuring serpentine bracing. An east-west 3-light ovolo mullioned frieze window, restored with diamond lattice, is accompanied by a 20th-century 4-light casement window with 2 top lights set within the original aperture. This window shows exposed joints indicating the position of a former oriel window on a deep sill. A 2-light restored ovolo mullioned window with diamond lattice panes follows, with evidence of redundant joints marking a second oriel window. The sequence concludes with a 20th-century 2-light casement window with a top-light of diamond lattice. Above this level are two restored dormer windows with simple gabled roofs, peg-tiled, featuring 2 and 3-light lattice panes respectively.

The rear, or south elevation, displays the principal house with hipped ends and cross-wing with gable end stack at the west end. A 3-shafted stack with diagonally set shafts (rebuilt) rises at the east end. A large lateral stack to the hall is built in English bond with double walls, crow-stepped and embattled at the top; a rebuilt rectangular stack rises above it. To the east, a tile-hung stair tower rises through the roof to attic level, featuring a hipped peg-tiled roof and a 20th-century 2-light casement with a top-light of diamond lattice panes. Two casement dormer windows with hipped, peg-tiled roofs occupy either end of the lower catslide roof, which is continuous with the out-shut. The west dormer has 2-light glazing with 3x5 panes, whilst the east dormer has 3-light glazing with 3x5 panes. The west side has a 20th-century extension built immediately after the Second World War in red brick with stone dressings to windows and a 'Gothic' door; a wheel window features on the south gable end of this block, which is not included in the listing. The entire rear central range is surrounded by a 20th-century verandah lean-to continuing around the southeast side of a courtyard. Two 19th-century iron casement windows remain in the rear wall of the out-shut.

The west end elevation shows the cross-wing with a rendered stack featuring two 19th-century rebuilt diagonal shafts. An 18th-century timber-framed lean-to with exposed framing is set around the stack. To the south, a 20th-century 4-light diamond lattice window appears above an early 20th-century 2-light casement with rectangular leaded panes in coloured glass set within a mock timber surround. To the west is a brick, colourwashed unit with a yellow brick stack above. A 20th-century 3-light casement with diamond leaded lights occupies the ground floor. To the south, a brick unit with a 20th-century lean-to porch with a peg-tiled roof contains a 20th-century flush double doors. The east end elevation is obscured by 19th and 20th-century additions, which are not included in this listing.

The interior has been considerably rebuilt, though some original features remain. All ceiling joists of the ground-floor hall in the central range are moulded, with step-stopped chamfers at the cross passage end. The high end cross wall of the hall has a display brace and a doorway with moulded jambs on the cross-wing side. The ground-floor fireplace of the hall's lateral stack has been rebuilt. On the first floor, an original 4-centred arch fireplace with ovolo-moulded chamfer and high stop survives; all other fireplaces have been rebuilt. The first-floor framing displays elements of construction. The 2-bayed west cross-wing has a central moulded arched brace to the tie-beam, and a tension brace appears on the hall flank wall; the rear bay shows evidence of a former mullioned window on the south outer wall.

The roof detail is particularly significant. The west cross-wing is the earliest, dating to the 16th century, and features a central 4-way braced crown post, square with square fillets to each face and broach stops to the base, bearing carpenters' marks. The collar purlin has stopped chamfers. A plain rear gable crown post also survives, with foot bracing. The front crown-post has been removed and the collar purlin cut short to create an integral hipped roof, probably in the 18th century. The centre range and east cross-wing have side purlin roofs, with wind braces remaining in the cross-wing.

Historically, the building was surrounded by a moat, now dry and fragmentary. It is said to have been the residence of Henry Roper, Gentleman Pursuivant to Queen Katherine of Aragon. Henry VIII is said to have been a frequent visitor to the house, which would align with the first building phase, though the particularly enriched architectural detailing dates from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.