Begrums

House, Mountnessing

Begrums is a timber-framed house of exceptional historic importance, combining 15th-century and early 17th-century construction phases. The building faces north and comprises three ranges: a 15th-century 2-bay cross-wing at the left end, an early 17th-century 3-bay middle range, and a 15th-century 2-bay cross-wing to the right, all integrated under a continuous handmade red clay tile roof. The timber frame is plastered with a weatherboarded dado. Alterations date mainly to the early and mid-19th century, with some 18th and 19th-century modifications to the rear ranges.

The building rises two storeys on a rectangular plan. The front elevation is continuous and straight, a result of later cutting back of the originally jettied cross-wings to align with the main range. The gablet hips at each end of the roof reflect the higher pitch of the main range overlaying the cross-wings. The front contains three early and mid-19th-century sash windows of 8+8 lights per floor, some glazed with crown glass and fitted with hinged stays beneath the upper sashes. Two 19th-century half-glazed 4-panel doors occupy the centre: each has two flush lower panels, and both are topped with 19th-century shallow canopies on profiled brackets, though the left canopy is damaged.

The rear elevation shows various external stacks and extensions. An early 17th-century external stack rises behind the left bay of the main range, flanked by a catslide extension to the right and a single-storey lean-to to the left. Behind the right bay stands an early 17th-century stair tower with catslide roof and an adjoining single-storey lean-to. Two external stacks stand at the right side of the right cross-wing, both truncated, dating to the 18th and 19th centuries. A 18th or 19th-century single-storey red brick ancillary range extends to the rear of the left cross-wing, terminating in a truncated stack; it includes a cast-iron door to a former bread oven, now missing. The rear elevation contains one 19th-century casement at ground floor level, two at first floor, and one at half-height in the stair tower.

Interior

The original medieval cross-entry survives inside the left door. To the left of this entry stands an intact pair of service doorways with chamfered jambs and 4-centred arches. The original plain battened doors are hung in the medieval manner on a central post; the door nearest the front is probably on its original hinges, while the other is re-hung on later pintle hinges, though one of the two original pintle hinges remains in place. A third door with plain head opens from the left side of the cross-entry into a quarter-turn stair, both in their original medieval positions. The stair's inclined bearers appear original; the former solid treads have been replaced with plank treads and risers. The studded partition between the two original service rooms to the left remains intact, featuring curved bracing and plastered only to the front face.

On the first floor, a partition has been inserted into the formerly open truss beneath a cambered tie-beam, which retains two solid braces 0.12 metres wide. The roof is ceiled and was not inspected, but is believed similar to that of the right cross-wing.

The middle range represents an early 17th-century rebuild on the site of the former medieval open hall. It contains a chamfered axial beam with lamb's tongue stops, joists plastered to their soffits, some exposed studding in the upper storey, and two braced trusses without tie-beams. Most surfaces are plastered. The rear stair is original, with an octagonal newel. A 20th-century grate sits in a wide wood-burning rear hearth. The roof was not inspected but is believed to be original.

The right cross-wing features similar solid braces to its cambered tie-beam, which is chamfered with step stops. It retains a crownpost roof now absorbed into the 17th-century main roof: a plain square crownpost with axial braces to the collar-purlin approximately 0.05 metres wide. Inserted partitions occupy the ground floor, first floor, and roof space within the central truss.

The rear ancillary range is constructed of red brick with machine-made red clay tile roofing. Photographs in the owners' possession document a complete re-tiling of the main house roof in 1988, carried out without disturbance to the underlying roof structure.

This is an exceptionally well-preserved 15th and 17th-century house, warranting particular care in its conservation.