Brick House

This is a house, dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries, built of red brick in a distinctive half-H plan, with a rear wing. It has a red plain tile roof and includes a cellar and attic as well as two main floors. The house sits on a raised plinth with a moulded string course. Stepped buttresses feature on the left wing and a diagonal buttress on the right wing and rear. Gable features are present on both the wings and the central block. The window arrangement is 1:2:1, with square leaded casements, some in original frames, and brick three-centre arches above. The central entrance has a moulded three-plank door within a moulded frame. The right wing retains an original red brick chimney stack with two diagonal shafts, an attached diagonal shaft, and an additional stack at the rear.

Inside, the complete original timber frame remains, with a large hall spanning both the ground and first floors. The structure incorporates stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops. The original newel staircase features oak treads and risers, contained within an original stair turret. Further original features include moulded doors and frames, boarded floors in some rooms, and original moulded brick fireplaces with three-centre heads in several rooms. One room contains details from the 18th century.

The roof is fully framed, of the purlin type, with a second upper purlin. Rafters are framed to the lower purlin and lodged to the upper one. This is a particularly fine and unusual house for Essex.