Beckingham Hall

Beckingham Hall is a house dating from 1543-6, with alterations made in the early 17th century, 18th century, and early 19th century. It is built of red brick in English and Flemish bonds, partly plastered, with a slate roof.

The original range runs approximately north-west to south-east and is now two storeys high, with a single axial chimney stack. At the north-west end is a single-storey block of similar brickwork, with a straight joint between it and the main range, beyond which is a garage. From the south-east end of the original range, a wing extends to the south-west in plastered brickwork, probably of 16th or 17th century origin but altered in the early 19th century to form an entrance front facing south-east. In the west angle is an 18th century extension in Flemish bond, built on a 16th century chamfered plinth in English bond.

The south-east elevation displays a four-window range of early 19th century sash windows with 16 lights, some containing crown glass. An off-centre 19th century half-glazed door with marginal lights is set within an early 19th century porch with two simple columns and a flat roof. The roof to this block is hipped.

The north-east elevation is built in English bond with a chamfered plinth. The wall reduces in thickness at two-thirds height, marked by a moulded string course at this level, which is identical to that of the nearby gatehouse (also grade II listed). The ground floor has two 19th century casement windows, while the first floor contains two 19th century casement windows and one 20th century casement. A 19th century door is also present. Above the level of the ground floor windows and below the string course are blocked apertures: one large original window and three small ones. The south-west and north-west elevations contain 18th and early 19th century casements, with other alterations visible in the brickwork. In the plastered north-west and north-east elevations of the entrance block, the wall similarly reduces in thickness at two-thirds height.

The interior is fully plastered. An early 19th century stair with stick balusters survives.

Three estate maps held in Essex Record Office document the building's development. A 1616 map by John Walker (known only as a poor photographic copy of a lost original) shows the main range in elevation as three storeys high with three axial chimney stacks and three symmetrical feature gables. A 1637 map by Thomas Cosin depicts the house and site in perspective detail, showing an E-shaped plan facing south-west on the same axis as the gatehouse. At this stage it occupied the full width of the existing walled courtyard, comprised two storeys with three axial chimney stacks, though the porch was of two lower storeys, and the main range featured six gables of irregular sizes.

These maps reveal that the main range was originally built with three fairly low storeys, the brick walls reducing in thickness above the second storey with a moulded string course at that level. Between 1616 and 1637 the main range was altered to provide two storeys of greater height while leaving the two-storey porch unaltered, and extra gables were inserted. The storeys remain of exceptional height. The blocked apertures in the north-east elevation mark the position of the original middle storey. A third map, dated 1766, shows the house greatly reduced in size; two barns are depicted in the 1637 map to the south-west of the gatehouse, with one remaining by 1766.

The manor was granted to Stephen Beckingham in 1543. Richly carved panelling from the house, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum (acquired in 1914), is dated 1546 and demonstrates that the main range was complete by that date. The manor remained in the Beckingham family until 1636, when it passed to Sir Thomas Adams; the Cosin map was prepared at this stage. It subsequently changed hands three more times before being bequeathed in 1711 to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England, established in 1649. At the time of survey in April 1985 this charity still owned the property; the 1766 map was prepared for this organisation.

Beckingham Hall therefore ceased to function as a great house during the 17th or early 18th century. Before 1766 it suffered major damage or dereliction which destroyed the north-west wing and the north-west portion of the main range, leaving only the L-shaped fragment which survives today in altered form, re-orientated to face south-east.