Wynter's Cottage

Wyntter's Cottage is a late 16th-century cottage that has been extended in the 17th and 20th centuries. It is timber-framed and plastered, with exposed framing and a roof covered in handmade red clay tiles. The original layout comprised two bays aligned east-west; the western bay was initially open to the roof with an internal timber-framed chimney, while the eastern bay had a full storey. A one-bay extension, likely dating from the 16th or 17th century, was added to the west. A lean-to extension to the east exists, though its date is uncertain. A two-storey parallel range was added to the southeast around 1980.

The north elevation features a 20th-century tiled gabled porch with a door. It has three windows on each floor, with two leaded casements having arched heads, dating from around 1980. One original window remains, featuring two diamond mullions and internal leaded glazing, also dated to around 1980. Two gabled dormers, matching the ground floor windows, are present. The roof is half-hipped at both ends.

Internally, some timber framing is exposed. Notable features include jowled posts, arched braces from the corner posts to wallplates and tiebeams, trenched studding, and a clasped purlin roof. The western bay retains evidence of unglazed windows with two diamond mullions on both the north and south walls, a south doorway set against the southwest corner post, and a north doorway approximately one meter from the northwest corner. The original west wall was gabled, with a timber-framed chimney (approximately 3 meters by 1 meter) positioned against its north end, acting as a baffle entry to the south. The roof shows no signs of smoke blackening.

In the early 17th century, a floor was installed with an axial beam, vertical section joists, and supporting clamps. Later in the same century, the timber-framed chimney was replaced with brick. A dormer was added to the south pitch of the roof, reusing timber from an earlier unglazed window. The eastern bay retains an original floor of elm joists arranged longitudinally and shows evidence of unglazed windows with two diamond mullions in the lower parts of the north and south walls and above the east wall tiebeam.

The western extension is constructed from reused timber, with weathering on both sides, and boasts arched bracing similar to the original cottage but at a shallower angle. A brick chimney with a bread oven is integrated into the partition wall. The absence of exterior weathering on the original cottage's west wall suggests it was originally adjacent to another building. Historically, access to the property came from the south, but was later re-routed to the north. Detailed measured drawings and a report by Mr. J. Walker of the Essex Architectural Research Society are held by the NMR.