2, Little Walden Road

House at 2 Little Walden Road, Saffron Walden

A timber-framed and plastered house of 17th-century origin with an early 19th-century wing and 20th-century additions and refurbishment. The building is now two storeys with attics, features a peg-tiled roof, and has red brick stacks. Modern brickwork forms part of the structure. The plan is irregularly L-shaped, comprising the original block, a 19th-century wing, and additional 20th-century side projections.

The south front elevation faces Pound Walk and shows a two-window range with a doorway, with a large stack positioned behind. A half-hipped roof covers this section. The doorway has a flat cornice hood on brackets, with a door featuring lower boarding and upper glazing of 2x3 panes. The three windows are 3-light casements with glazing bars showing 3x2 panes. To the west, set back and at a slightly lower level, stands a small 20th-century wing with peg-tiling and a 2-light casement window. All windows and doors throughout the house are 20th-century replacements.

The rear north elevation displays a deep catslide roof extending to a ground-floor lean-to. A large gabled dormer window rises in line with the stacks, fitted with a 2-light casement. Below are a stable-style door and three casement windows of varying sizes: one 3-light, one 2-light, and one single light. A deep single-storey wing projects eastward, topped with a hipped roof and gables, and incorporates a French window of 4x5 panes. Further east sits a 20th-century single-storey addition with a 2-light casement window facing east and a dormer window above bearing a minor stack.

The east end elevation shows the house block terminating in a gable at the south end, with a roof hip and two protruding wall plates. Both storeys and the attic feature similar 3-light casement windows. To the north stands a single-storey 19th-century wing, with visible evidence of a 2-metre 20th-century extension further north. Two 2-light casement windows light this section, alongside a small ridge stack and a dormer window with 2-light casement. Two conjoined 20th-century gabled ground-floor extensions stand in front: one functions as a porch with a boarded stable-style door, the other contains a 3-light casement window.

The west elevation fronts Little Walden Road. The house end gable features a rear out-shut, with a half-hipped roof gable containing an attic 3-light casement window with glazing bars displaying 3x3 panes. The ground floor shows a 20th-century 3-cant bay window corbelled out with a flat roof and 4x4 pane glazing bars. A deep brick plinth accommodates ground-level variations. Behind, a single-storey 19th-century wing contains three 2-light casement windows and a small stack towards the south end. A large rear dormer window penetrates the main roof pitch north of the principal stack.

Interior

The interior, though substantially refurbished in the 20th century, retains sufficient exposed framing to reveal the original 3-celled lobby entrance form. The ground floor originally comprised two rooms. The major room to the east (hall) is two-bayed with 2 lamb's tongue chamfered binding joists, common joists running axially to the house. The western room (parlour) is a single bay featuring a central major bridging joist with lamb's tongue chamfer stops and common joists running transversely. The original rear stair tower framing rises to the attics but is now partly obscured, encapsulated within a lean-to of slightly later date. The first-floor room above the hall and the room above retain stud mortices and wattle grooves from the original 3-celled partitioning. The attic features a trapped side purlin roof with cambered collars providing headroom. The building exemplifies the classic house style common in England during the 17th century.