Blind Knights is a Grade II* listed building in the Colchester local planning authority area, England. First listed on 18 May 1979. House.

Blind Knights

WRENN ID
guardian-vestry-mint
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Colchester
Constituency
Witham MP: Priti Patel (Con)
Country
England
Date first listed
18 May 1979
Type
House
Address
Blind Knights, Field Farm Lane, Layer-De-La-Haye
OS grid reference
TL 976 190
Coordinates
51.83526, 0.86712
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Blind Knights is an early 14th-century hall house that has undergone later alterations. It features a timber-framed and plastered structure with a red plain tile roof and stands two storeys high. The ground floor has a window arrangement of 1:2:1:1:1, while the first floor has 1:3:3:1, all fitted with modern casements. The central section comprises one full bay of the original hall, showcasing massive arch bracing to the tie beam, a four-armed crown post, and heavily sooted rafters. The building now has one and a half storeys due to the insertion of a first floor, likely in the 16th century, and includes gabled dormers at both the front and rear.

To the west, there is a cabled and jettied crosswing along with an adjoining range, both added in the 20th century and standing two storeys tall. At the east end of the hall, there is an early 14th-century gabled and jettied crosswing. Much of the frame is exposed internally, featuring stop-chamfered beams and two original ogee doorheads. The original roof remains intact, with four-armed crown posts and a central purlin. Additionally, to the east, there is a long wall jettied wing from the early 15th century, also with exposed framing, a semi-circular headed entrance doorway, and a simple two-armed crown post roof. A large rear chimney stack displays brickwork from the 15th and 16th centuries.

Local climate

Blind Knights sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 670 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 99% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 51% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 18 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 83% of listed buildings. Of these, 9 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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