Mill House

PURLEIGH MILL LANE TL 80 SW (east side) 1/101 Mill House GV II House. Late C18. Timber framed, weatherboarded with facade of red brick in Flemish bond, roofed with handmade red clay tiles. T-plan facing SW, with external stacks in both rear angles and at end of rear wing. Early C19 extension in left rear angle. 2 storeys. 4-window range of original sashes, some with crown glass, with flat brick arches over the ground-floor windows, and a blocked window over the central door. Flush 6-panel door, the top 2 panels glazed, with fluted pilasters, fluted frieze with paterae, and dentilled pediment. Moulded eaves cornice. Original stair with stick balusters. Chamfered axial beams in main range and rear wing, with elongated lamb's tongue stops. Exceptionally unaltered outside and inside. (See item 1/101). The court rolls of Le How manor first record this second tenement on the site on 12 March 1799, the first having been built by the same owner, Roger Cook, soon after March 1778. As a miller he appears to have built first a simple cottage for his own occupation, and within 20 years to have built this more fashionable house alongside for his own use, and to have let the original cottage (Essex Record Office, D/DU 377/5).

Listing NGR: TL8335502116