Watch House is a Grade II* listed building in the Colchester local planning authority area, England. First listed on 27 January 1982. A C16 House.
Watch House
- WRENN ID
- far-flint-gilt
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Colchester
- Constituency
- Harwich and North Essex MP: Sir Bernard Jenkin (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 27 January 1982
- Type
- House
- Address
- Watch House, Colchester Road, Wakes Colne
- OS grid reference
- TL 895 285
- Coordinates
- 51.92311, 0.75546
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Watch House is a 16th-century house that features a timber frame and pebble-dashed exterior. It has two storeys and is designed in an H-plan. The west crosswing is taller than the gable of the hall, while the east crosswing has a ridge that is lower than that of the hall. The original cross entry doorhead has been converted into a window on the west wing, and there is a red brick chimney stack at the west end of the hall. The windows are casements arranged in sets of three, and the roofs are gabled and covered with peg tiles. Inside, the hall has been laterally divided by a first floor supported on clamps, featuring deep joists that date back to around 1520. The hall roof was rebuilt around the same time, and soot from the open hearth can still be seen on many of the rafters.
Local climate
Watch House sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 650 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 64% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 22 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 77% of listed buildings. Of these, 10 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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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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