83, 85, 87 AND 89, HIGH STREET

This is a row of four houses on High Street, Brightlingsea, originally a single dwelling. The house has a core of 16th-century origin, with significant alterations and additions in the 18th and 19th centuries. The construction is timber-framed, with some plaster and red brick facing. The roof is covered in red plain tiles, and there are chimney stacks, one red brick and off-centre to the right, built from gault brick. The house is two storeys and has attics, with four dormers - two hipped on the left and two flat-headed on the right. The windows are a mix, including horizontal sliding sash windows with glazing bars, and one sliding sash window. The facade is currently arranged in three bays, with pilasters between. A parapet runs along the left and central bays. The windows are arranged 2:2:2 on the first floor and 1:2:2 on the ground floor.

Number 83 has a simple surround and a 20th-century door. Number 85 features an 18th-century six-panelled door with fluted pilasters, triglyphs to the frieze, and dentilled soffits to the moulded pediment. Numbers 87 and 89 have two central 20th-century doors. The timber frame is dated to the early 16th century by C.A. Hewitt.

Inside number 83, large chamfered bridging joists are visible, along with some top plates and side girts. A fireplace with an iron soffit tie is also present. The left-hand chimney stack dates to the 18th century. The facade of number 83 was incorporated into that of number 85 during the 18th century.

Number 85 retains 17th/18th-century panelling in the hall and front ground and first-floor rooms. Features include a corner cupboard with three moulded shelves, original window seats, a moulded cornice, and a boxed-in moulded bridging joist on the ground floor. A 20th-century fireplace has been installed, though a large chimney stack, likely originally external, remains. Behind the hall is a stair turret with an open well staircase, a moulded string, heavy turned balusters, a moulded handrail and dado panelling. The attic staircase has horizontally boarded walls, and the attic doors are vertically boarded with original ironmongery. The panelled front bedroom has a moulded cornice and panelled doors with original ironmongery, one with cockshead hinges. Both this room and a ground-floor room have circular moulded hooks on the walls, and there is a fine 18th-century cast iron hob grate. Doors in the front bedroom once led into number 85. Numbers 87 and 89 were not inspected during the re-survey.