36 and 37, Church Street

The building comprises two unequal-sized houses on Church Street, Harwich. The origins of the structure date back to the 16th century, with extensions added in the 17th century and significant remodelling occurring in the mid-18th century. It is timber-framed with a striking red Flemish-bond brick front and a clay plain tile gabled roof. A rear range extends at right angles to the frontage, featuring three parallel roofs and three jettied gables at the rear. The building is two storeys and has attics.

The front elevation is symmetrical, featuring a plain parapet, a modillioned brick cornice, a projecting string band between the storeys, and a tarred plinth with moulded coping. A central projection showcases flush double-hung sash windows with small panes, set under flat rubbed brick arches with projecting keystones on each floor. Narrower double-hung sash windows and blind openings also feature on the upper floor of the recessed sections. The ground floor flanking sections each have a similar window and a raised-and-fielded six-panel door with moulded architraves and a pulvinated frieze; the cornice hood is missing from No. 37. Substantial, off-centre ridgeline stack and a tall stack are present at the southern end of the parapet. The front of the houses likely shares a builder with the adjacent properties at Nos. 34 and 35.

The complex is built around a 16th-century front range, doubled in depth during the early 17th century. In the mid-18th century, it was subdivided forming two houses of unequal size. The front range of No. 36 retains a chamfered spine beam and one exposed section at the first floor, featuring a jowled top. No. 37 incorporates a substantial bridging joist across the front range. The rear wing, dating to the 17th century, is a high-quality timber frame with quadrant-moulded chamfers and lamb's tongue stops on all horizontal members. The rear gables are jettied at eaves level, supported by inward-facing jowled posts.

The interior of No. 36 reflects mid-18th century styling with cupboards and L-shaped doors, and two corner cupboards with serpentine shelves (the ground-floor cupboard having radiating strips on its soffit). A first-floor cupboard has a bolection surround and fitted doors. No. 37 displays similar features, including panelled partitions beside the entrance passage, a panelled room in the 17th-century section, and a panelled door with cockspur hinges. An overdoor ventilator in the passage displays a panel with asymmetrical diagonal bars. Both properties possess tight winder stairs.

A two-storey, late 17th-century extension is located at the rear of No. 36, featuring a gabled clay plain tile roof and a stack at the southwest end. Its NW elevation is of mid-18th century red Flemish-bond brickwork with a modillioned cornice and a double-hung sash window with small panes. A smaller extension, weatherboarded with a hipped peg-tile roof and end stack, is found at the rear of No. 37.