Parish Room Vergers Cottage

Vergers Cottage and Parish Room, Saffron Walden

A house dating to the early 16th century with later additions, located in the churchyard. The building comprises the original timber-framed house, a 17th and 18th century lean-to, 1880s parish rooms, and a 20th century extension. It is constructed of timber framing, stone and brick, with peg-tiled roofs. The plan is T-shaped, consisting of the original house and principal parish rooms plus a rear 19th century wing, rising to 2 and 3 storeys.

The south-facing front elevation displays a gabled and jettied 16th century house at its western end with exposed timber framing. The ground floor has been totally restored, whilst the original framing above remains, though the plate horns and jetty bressumer have been cut back apparently to receive an overall plastered finish in the 17th or 18th century. The end jetty brackets have been replaced by a 19th century version with reversed curve and continuous plain pilaster below. The sill rests on a 19th century snecked ashlar base. The ground floor contains a 19th century 2-light arched-headed window with moulded framing and a similar doorway with an 18th century fielded 2-panel door. The first floor features a 19th century 3-light oriel window with wooden corbelled base and flat leaded roof. The original framing of the first floor and gable displays close studding.

The west side of the house has a lean-to with catslide roof, timber-framed and rendered with ashlar lining. It contains a 2-light 19th century metal casement window with 6 by 4 panes.

To the east, the parish rooms date to the 1880s and form a continuous range with 3 large similar gabled windows that break through the roof eaves. The timber decoration is of Cheshire style with herringbone gables and quadrant panels below. The windows have 2 mullions and eaves-level transoms, containing 6 lights of leaded panes. A row of recurved braces links the windows. A high snecked ashlar plinth sits below the sill. The eastern end has a 2-leaf boarded and battened door with an overlight of 4 lancets. At the centre, a timber, lead and copper lantern with turned baluster framing crowns the roof. A 20th century extension in red brick with segment-headed casement windows extends from the eastern end of the block.

The rear north elevation faces ground that falls away to the north. The original house unit displays 3 storeys of rendered timber framing. A prominent gable end stack with stone and flint rubble base contains a 2-light casement window with 4 by 2 panes in heavy rough timber frame. Above this, a 17th century red brick section contains a fixed-light window, which was rebuilt in the 19th century at the apex. A second 18th century shaft, swept in from the west side, is of red brick with scored pointing. On the east side of the stack, simple casement windows appear on each floor. To the east, the parish rooms have a north wing of 19th century red brick; the west face of the wing includes flint panel work. The fenestration is irregular, with a mixture of flat and segment heads and plain doorways, one set within an internal porch with fixed 2 by 4 paned side lights. The 20th century addition has segment-headed casement windows.

The west end elevation features the lean-to to the house, with a doorway containing a 17th century shadow-planed moulded boarded door and an adjacent 2-light 19th century iron casement window with 6 by 4 panes.

Interior of the house: Close-studded timber framing is present in the semi-basement as well as throughout the rest of the building. External curved tension bracing appears at the rear on the first floor. The ground floor and first floor each contain open 2 bays. The ground floor ceiling binding joist is decorated with cyma and hollow chamfer mouldings with run-out stops; common joists are roll-moulded. Other members have step-stopped chamfers. The first floor retains window shutter grooves at front and back. A rear stair on the ground to first floor flight occupies a secondary stair tower, subsequently raised. An upper doorway site appears to pre-date the present stair system. The ground floor fireplace construction with timber lintel suggests a possible timber-framed chimney before the present stack. The lean-to contains a stair to the lower floor with a second rear fireplace.

The building does not appear to have been a cross-wing to a hall but rather a free-standing structure. Similar buildings are known to have been built for church use; comparison may be made with the Chantry Priest's House, Maldon, Essex, which similarly has a high rear doorway. The rubble footing of the stack contains moulded stone fragments, predominantly of double ogee profile, and part of a doorway jamb with double chamfer, brooch and ball stops. Traces of original paint are visible. These fragments likely came from the church when it was rebuilt by Wastell and Clerk in the 15th or 16th century. Current renovation has revealed 17th century arrow protection symbols on the upper rear doorway and remains of the original front doorframe behind restoration work.