Tubbeswick

584/0/10048 MILL ROAD 14-DEC-01 (South side) Tubbeswick

II

House. c. 1750. Red brick laid in Flemish bond; plaintiled and slate roofs. PLAN: lobby-entrance. EXTERIOR: south front of 2 storeys; 5-window range. Symmetrical. 6-panelled central door, the upper 2 panels glazed, set within timber doorcase with flat hood. One blind window either side under segmental arches and one 8/8 unhorned sash to each of outer window bays. First floor alternates between 3 6/6 unhorned sashes and 2 blind windows. Coved and plastered eaves cornice. Central ridge stack. One brick (left of first-floor west window) inscribed HDF/ 1752 (Hannah De Foe). North elevation presents 2 projections, that to east gabled with a slate roof, that to west hipped with machine tiled roof. East projection with single-storey outshut to east side. North front with one plank door, one 2/2 unhorned sash and one 2/2 horizontally sliding sash. One segmental-headed casement to attic with glazing bars. West projection recessed: plank door to east of an 8/8 unhorned sash under a segmental gauged skewback arch. First floor rebuilt c. 1920 in stretcher bond brick reusing a 6/6 unhorned sash. Stack on main wall plane, rebuilt C20. West return with one 6/6 unhorned sash to each floor. INTERIOR: 4-panelled doors throughout. East ground-floor room with 2 chamfered bridging beams with tongue stops. Late C19 marble chimneypiece in north wall. Passage west of stack leads to service rooms. Winder staircase north of stack. Similar bridging beams in passage and ground floor west room, the latter with a second late C19 marble chimneypiece. Kitchen (north-west extension) with tall fire opening for a range. Opposite is a pantry. North-east extension with an early C20 boiler. First floor rooms plain, with spine beams as before. Roof timbers plastered. HISTORICAL NOTE: the house was leased by Daniel Defoe on 6 August 1722 at o120 per annum for 99 years, and subsequently rebuilt for his daughter Molly Defoe. SOURCE: Philip Morant, The History and Antiquities of Colchester, 1768, Book II, p. 734 Intact mid-C18, lobby entrance house with all features intact and historical association with Daniel Defoe.