King's Head Hotel is a Grade II listed building in the Uttlesford local planning authority area, England. First listed on 7 May 1952. Hotel, public house. 7 related planning applications.
King's Head Hotel
- WRENN ID
- grim-wicket-rook
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Uttlesford
- Constituency
- North West Essex MP: Mrs Kemi Badenoch (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 7 May 1952
- Type
- Hotel, public house
- Address
- King's Head Hotel, North Street, Great Dunmow, CM6 1BA
- OS grid reference
- TL 627 222
- Coordinates
- 51.87516, 0.36289
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The King’s Head Hotel is a hotel and public house, likely dating back to the 15th century or earlier, with significant alterations in the 16th and 17th centuries. It is constructed of timber framing and plaster, and has two storeys with a three-storey crosswing at the northern end. The roof is covered in peg tiles, with a hipped section at the south end, a gable at the front of the crosswing, a hipped rear, and three lean-to additions at the rear, all with peg tiles.
The front of the building is dominated by the three-storey crosswing, featuring a jettied ground floor supported by heavy, shaped brackets, which also support scalloped bargeboards. A canted bay window with a part-hipped slate roof and iron leaded light casements is present on the ground floor. The main block has a late 18th-century doorcase, with a simple bracket and scroll-supported flat hood, along with two similar canted bay windows and an 18th-century recessed bench seat with a flared surround. A small red brick stack is located in the front roof slope, and there is another at the north end of the wall. A 20th-century flat-roofed extension is at the rear.
The interior reveals three distinct building phases: a c.1620 three-storey crosswing, a single bay to the south of what was likely an open hall, and a three-bay mid-16th-century block of 'long wall jetty' form. This block originally contained a large first-floor chamber, a service or parlour bay on the ground floor, and a two-bay hall with a hearth bay. A crownpost roof remains over this section, along with tie beam arched braces. The three-storey crosswing retains original attic space with an unusual aisle-like roof form. A part of a probable fire hood survives on the ground floor.
Local climate
King's Head Hotel sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 94% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 88% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 33 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 53% of listed buildings. Of these, 17 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- Sale history — 4 transactions since 2018
- Related listed building consents — 7 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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