13 And 13A, High Street

Shop, house and restaurant on the High Street in Maldon, dating from the 15th and 17th centuries. The building is timber-framed and rendered with plain tile roofs.

The plan is complex and irregular, consisting of a slightly curving front range that returns with a hipped corner to the north-east, terminating in a gable at the rear. Behind this front section are two long gable-roofed ranges, the north-west of which has a catslide extension. The south-west flanks of these blocks are stepped with a series of two large and one small gabled blocks projecting at right-angles.

The exterior is two storeys with a four-window range. The front elevation is rendered in ashlar with two two-storey canted bay windows featuring small-paned sashes and flat roofs. The first floor has two additional small-paned sash windows. The ground floor contains two 20th-century varnished timber glazed doors with small panes and moulded painted surrounds, both slightly recessed. Chimneys are positioned behind the rear gable, on the north-west flank, and within a valley on the south-west facing elevation.

The north-east elevation is also ashlared render, with two 19th-century casement windows: one of two lights and one of three-with-three panes to each light. Towards the north-west end is an open-pedimented early 19th-century doorcase with consoles on thin panelled pilasters, moulded architrave, and a contemporary six-panel door. The north-east and south-west elevations feature early 19th-century sash windows with vertical glazing bars and moulded surrounds.

The interior reveals the building's considerable age and complexity. The front range is substantially composed of a two-bay timber-frame with unjowled posts, probably originally jettied to the street. It has cambered tie beams and a crown-post roof with a cross-quadrate 15th-century crown post positioned over the central tie beam. The north-east frame was the original outer wall, featuring external arch bracing to the crown stud. This is a relatively narrow structure without spine beams and may also have been jettied to the rear. At the south-west end, this block abuts and encroaches into No. 11 (a three-storey gatehouse tower of contemporary build).

The north-eastern block is a former cross-wing originally jettied towards the north-west. This 15th-century structure comprises two unequal bays, gabled to front and rear, with a crown-post roof featuring chamfered posts. Remains of diamond-mullioned windows survive on its front and flank, alongside later inserted ovolo-mullioned windows with iron security bars. The structure contains reused 17th-century panelling and part of a fluted frieze. Traces of fleur-de-lys wall paintings were uncovered on the inside of the south-west wall during recent restoration, though these have since been concealed again.

Attached by pegs to the outer south-west flank of this block is the truncated part of an elaborate mid-16th-century inserted flooring featuring moulded bridging joists, spine beam, and edge beams. This appears to have been inserted into the former structure at right-angles, with vestigial roof remains surviving above. Blocked diamond-mullioned windows in both flanks suggest the cross-wing was originally free-standing.

Between the front range and the north-east block is a mid-17th-century range with an A-frame roof largely constructed from second-hand timbers. The main trusses (reused) feature very deep collars. A floor in this part has good-quality spine beams and joists, some of which are partly exposed. The remainder of the complex also appears to be 17th century, with much reused timber and one ovolo-mullioned window exposed on the first floor.

This complex probably formed part of a substantial landholding, potentially occupying the semi-circular area of land now bounded by the High Street, Gate Street, and Silver Street. The Baude family appears to have owned this land during the 13th and 14th centuries.