Dovercourt Hall

Dovercourt Hall is a house dating from the early and late 17th century, located in Harwich. It is timber-framed and rendered, with areas of black weatherboarding and red brick, and features exposed timber framing. The roofs are gabled and covered in clay tiles, with strips of machine-made clay tiles. The house has two storeys and attics, arranged in an ‘L’ plan. The west elevation of the main range, along with the western gable end of an earlier range extending east-west, forms the front of the building. The main block's roof has three hipped dormers, each with a two-light 19th-century casement window with central horizontal glazing bars. This face displays an exposed late 17th-century timber frame and a moulded eaves cornice. The first floor has two square, flush, 19th-century double-hung sash windows with small panes, alongside a smaller double-hung sash with plain glass. The ground floor mirrors this with two similar sashes. A central 19th-century red Flemish-bond brick porch, with a gabled clay tile roof, cusped bargeboards and a semicircular arched doorway, is present. The western elevation of the earlier block is rendered with a black weatherboarded gable and a 20th-century two-light casement on each floor. The south elevation of the main range is particularly notable, constructed of red brick with a parapet, tumble-back courses, and stumpy finial termination. The base of the parapet displays moulded brick corbels and a raised string band below the gable. The elevation contains flush, central, 19th-century double-hung sashes with small panes, positioned under rendered flat heads. The brick north party wall connects to the earlier block. Each block has a central ridgeline stack, and a single-storey rear extension boasts a catslide roof. The northern wing features a red brick rear wall and a black weatherboarded rear gable. The interior of the main range reveals late 17th-century timber framing of five bays, with a central stack and baffle entry. The earlier range incorporates three bays with a central stack. Exposed timber framing is visible within the renovated main range.