Roebuck House

TOLLESBURY CHURCH STREET TL 9410-9510 (east side) 8/4 Nos 1-5 (odds) (Roebuck House) GV II

House and shop, now 3 houses. C14/C15, altered in C16, C17 and C20. Timber framed, plastered with some exposed imitation framing, partly clad with red brick in Flemish bond, roofed with handmade red clay tiles. Shop weatherboarded with slate roof. 4-bay main range facing W, with 2-bay crosswing to right, and external stack on right side. One bay added to rear of crosswing, late C16/early C17. Left bay of main range converted to crosswing, with external stack to rear, late C16. Single-storey lean-to extension to rear of it. C19 lean-to shop to left, now incorporated with house. 2 storeys. Ground floor (bricked), 3 C19/C20 casements, 2 C20 small splayed bays. First floor (plastered, with imitation framing on crosswing only), 5 C19/C20 casements. 2 C20 doors. Inscription in modern plaster 'Roebuck House, circa 1390'. 2 small carved grotesque figures, re-sited on crosswing. Shop, 2 C20 sashes and half-glazed door, all under bracketed canopy. The left bay of the main range, converted to a crosswing, has unglazed windows each with 3 diamond mullions on both sides; an inserted floor with chamfered beam, joists of horizontal section, all with roll stops, supported on pegged clamps; jowled corner posts; half-glazed pine door to shop with bull's-eye glass. The remainder of the main range has jowled posts, diamond mortices, shutter rebates and edge-halved, sallied and bridled scarfs in both wallplates; plain joists of horizontal section in the left bay; chamfered axial beams with carved stops; chamfered joists of horizontal section with roll stops (some being C20 replacements) supported on pegged clamps; walls raised approx. 1.50 metres in C17. No. 5 comprises the right crosswing and the original cross-entry to the left of it. It has one of a former pair of service doorways, with 4-centred arched head, display bracing trenched into heavy studding, plain joists of large horizontal section, an underbuilt jetty, jowled posts, cambered central tiebeam; no access to roof. At the top of the stair, a C17 balustrade with moulded handrail and turned balusters. Re-used features, reportedly from Tollesbury Hall, include a carved arch (now over the service door), a timber carved with the date 1592 (now over the C20 fireplace), and the grotesque figures outside. The added bay to the rear has jowled posts and arched braces to the inner tiebeam. Nos I and 3 include much C20 replacement and restoration timber. RCHM 8.

Listing NGR: TL9563110437