Gatehouse 40 Metres West Of Beckingham Hall

TOLLESHUNT MAJOR CHURCH ROAD TL 91 SW (east side) 3/106 (8/182) Gatehouse 40 metres west of Beckingham Hail, 30.12.59 (Formerly listed as Gate House Beckingham Hall) GV II*

Gatehouse. 1543-6. Red brick in irregular bond, with remnants of external plaster. Rectangular plan facing approx. SW, with a circular turret at each corner, and connected to a wall (listed separately as item 3/107) enclosing a courtyard W of Beckingham Hall. 2 storeys. The blocked outer archway has richly moulded jambs and 4-centred arch in a square head with double label; the spandrels retain remnants of plaster. Above it is a window of two 4-centred lights in a square head, with moulded jambs, mullion and arches, recessed spandrels outside and inside, and the remains of a moulded label. The 2 outer turrets have restored cruciform loops on the upper floor. Chamfered plinth, moulded string course at first floor level, restored parapet. Above the S turret is a round chimney-shaft with a moulded necking on which stands an ornamental cap with 4 attached semi-circular shafts, restored. The responds of the inner archway have each an attached semi-circular shaft with a moulded capital and restored base. The springers of a 4-centred arch remain, the remainder rebuilt; above it are the remains of a large window with moulded jambs. On the NW wall are remnants of original plaster with a painted design in black and white. The inner turrets are hollow with domed floors, with external plain doorways to the courtyard with 4-centred arches. There is no floor or roof. In the thickness of the SE wall a stair rises to the first floor, lit by a chamfered rectangular loop, entered by a plain doorway with 4-centred head in the E turret, with a similar doorway at the top in the S turret. A similar stair, but unlit, rises to the roof. In the NW wall, at first-floor level, is an incomplete fireplace with remains of a 4-centred arch, and 2 flues branching to the W and N turrets. The W turret has on the first floor a plain doorway with 4-centred head. Built for Stephen Beckingham (P. Morant, The History and Antiquities of Essex, 1768, I, 390) and shown on an estate map of 1637 by Samuel Cosin (Essex Record Office, T/M 4/3), at which time the house extended further to the NW, symmetrically about the same axis as the gatehouse.

Listing NGR: TL9093411252