Vicarage Of Church Of All Saints

Vicarage of Church of All Saints

This vicarage in Maldon is a timber-framed and rendered building with exposed framing in places and a gabled plain tiled roof. It dates from 1449, with extensions from the early 16th and 17th centuries, and underwent restoration in 1902. The building follows a complex plan with a main hall block and two cross-wings.

The front of the west cross-wing features carved barge-boards from 1902 decorated with pomegranates, with gable framing exposed and arched down-braces rising from the crown post. The tie beam has a moulded soffit. An early 20th-century square oriel window sits above, supported by three large brackets with a flat lead roof. The 3-light casement windows and other contemporary windows on the front are hardwood with square fixed lights above a transom containing leaded glazing. The exposed first-floor framing shows double wall bracing. The ground floor is jettied with original brackets, and another square 4-light oriel appears below. A rendered and truncated old stack stands on the west flank.

The two-storey hall block has exposed framing with two major wall posts that frame what was likely a window opening. The first floor contains one 1902 window of 2 lights and a similar 3-light window, linked by a 2-light ovolo-mullioned leaded window with wrought-iron subsidiary mullions, plus another similar cross-mullioned window. The ground floor displays an ovolo-mullioned 2-light window flanking a 3-light casement of 1902.

A gabled projecting porch of 1902 has ornamental barge-boards with grape pattern and front posts with attached shafts topped by moulded bases and capitals. The recessed arched door head features carved and dated spandrels (1902), with a multi-studded batten door and rectangular fanlight above.

The east gable has moulded and carved barge-boards of 1902 with grape pattern at 45 degrees. Exposed gable framing includes ogee-curved down-braces to the crown post, and the tie beam carries a moulded soffit. The first floor shows exposed frame with single wall braces to corner posts and a 3-light 1902 flush casement. The jetty is exposed but has a modern fascia over its framed and moulded jetty bressumer; one remaining jetty bracket shows mid-17th-century character. The ground floor has a square 4-light oriel and a 2-light circa 1600 ovolo-mullioned window with leaded glazing.

The eastern cross-wing has two late two-storey extensions on its east flank with parallel plain tile gabled roofs at right angles to the cross-wing ridge. The southernmost extension features painted decorative tiling and a plain 2-light casement at first-floor level on its south wall. Other walls are rendered with a 12-pane sash window at first-floor level on the east elevation. The larger extension behind projects further and has exposed brick with a pantile-roofed lean-to extension on its east wall. The ground floor contains 16-pane sash windows with a 20th-century casement above. A T-shaped stack sits in the valley between the extensions. The rear of the west wing is hipped with a gablet; a gabled stair tower adjoins nearby.

Interior

The west cross-wing is a high-quality two-bay structure with unjowled posts and a single chamber on each floor. Floor joists feature centre tenons with soffit shoulders. The ground-floor front wall shows evidence for additional double wall bracing and a square oriel window. Fireplaces occupy the west flank, with the upper floor fireplace having a late medieval stone surround. The original stack position likely stood in the rear bay of this flank, suggested by a substantial gap in the framing and a probable window opening beside it. The rear wall contains vertically aligned door openings on each floor—the ground-floor door has an arched head—presumably providing access to a stair, though this area was altered in the late 17th century (a date painted on the wall attests to this) to create an additional rear bay. The east wall displays elaborate curved wall bracing now exposed within the later hall. A substantially surviving crown-post roof of cross-quadrate form spans the central tie beams. The inside face of the east wall bears traces of wall painting showing vertical red and white stripes with the sacred monogram IHC in white on red stripes, accompanied by foliage ornament. Clover-leaf motifs—white on red stripes and black on white stripes—represent the Holy Trinity.

The east cross-wing originally measured three bays, with a single-bay room on each floor at the front and a larger two-bay chamber to the rear. A staircase in the front bay provided first-floor access, probably through a door in the front elevation. The arrangement suggests a service wing, with evidence for paired service doors opening into the hall to the west. The front ground-floor wall indicates a square off-centre oriel, and the jetty bressumer is fully framed. The roof contains simple crown posts with thin longitudinal braces; a collar continues to form a collar purlin over the hall. The general construction suggests an early to mid-16th-century date, though some contradictory features exist. The east wall of the central bay holds a contemporary stone fireplace at ground-floor level, featuring a side arched head with attached shafts.

The present hall comprises two superimposed chambers with wall posts arranged to carry two tie beams defining a narrow central bay. This may date to the period of the east cross-wing, but the lambs-tongue stopped chamfers and general construction indicate a late 16th-century date. To the rear stands a late 18th-century staircase with shaped tread ends and stick balusters; at its head, a short length of similar handrail functions as a kind of gallery. Areas throughout the entrance passage and elsewhere contain 17th-century panelling.

History

The west cross-wing likely represents a chantry priesthouse of circa 1449 established under the will of Sir Robert D'Arcy of Maldon (1385–1448). Daily mass was to be celebrated at the altar of the Holy Trinity of All Saints Church, explaining the subject matter of the surviving wall paintings. The elaborate bracing of the east flank and its unweathered condition have suggested it may have been a parlour or solar to a contemporary or pre-existing open hall, though some Essex priests' houses certainly followed a three-bay cross-wing format.