Hubbard'S Hall

Hubbard's Hall is a manor house dating from around 1400, extended at various periods up to the 20th century. It is constructed of timber framing and red brick in English and Flemish bond, roofed with handmade red clay tiles.

The original building comprises a hall of 3 bays aligned approximately north to south, with a cross-entry and spere truss at the south end. An axial chimney stack was inserted into the middle bay of the hall during the 16th century. A north crosswing was added around 1600 with an external chimney stack on its north side. A south crosswing of early 17th-century date overlaps the south end of the hall by approximately 2 metres and contains a chimney stack near its middle. A parallel north-south range extends to the east, dating from the 17th or 18th century, and an additional crosswing south of the south crosswing was added in the 17th or 18th century. In 1934, architect Clough Williams-Ellis added a large reception wing to the northeast and service quarters to the southeast. A single-storey flat-roofed extension was constructed to the north and west of the north crosswing in the 19th or 20th century.

The west elevation of the hall and first two crosswings are faced with red brick in English bond with moulded stone coping on the parapet and gables, added in the 17th century with minor later alterations in flettons. The gables of the crosswings project slightly, suggesting the probability of underbuilt jetties. Fenestration includes a 4-panel door with upper glazed panels and scattered windows consisting of 18th and 19th-century double-hung sash windows and one tripartite sash window. Round windows with crossed glazing bars appear in each gable, the southern one being blind. A gabled dormer is present in the north bay of the hall. The west end of the additional south crosswing is weatherboarded.

Internally, the timber framing is almost wholly concealed. Part of one arched brace to the main tiebeam of the hall is visible from the ground floor, and another section of tiebeam and brace is visible within a first-floor cupboard. The hall roof is of crownpost construction with collar braces (soulaces) to every rafter couple; all timbers are heavily smoke-blackened. The crownpost of the main truss is octagonal with moulded capital and base and 4 arched braces, one of which is severed for the inserted chimney stack immediately to the south. North of this truss the hall roof is partly rebuilt with clasped purlins and an inserted attic lit by the dormer. The crownpost of the spere truss is plain and very tall, with short arched braces to each side and one axial brace to the north; there was never a brace to the south. South of the spere truss, the roof of the south crosswing impinges on the hall roof, leaving only the collar purlin present. Re-used timbers from the medieval hall are present in the roof, including a section of moulded wallplate and a large moulded mullion from the main window. The crosswing roofs are of clasped purlin construction.

The hall is of exceptional size, approximately 11.88 metres long by 7.92 metres wide, with sufficient height for 2 generous storeys and an attic, comparable with the hall of Harlowbury, 1.8 kilometres to the north-northeast, of which it was a dependent manor. Both were held by the Abbot of Edmundsbury. Hubbard's Hall was in the parish of Harlow until 1946.

Many of the walls retain a panelled dado of late 18th-century date, above which fabric is stretched on a rear frame—a rare survival—covered with wallpaper. The original main entrance was to the west at the south end of the hall; the 1934 alterations provided a new entrance to the north.