2 And 3, Abbey Lane

This is a pair of houses located on Abbey Lane in Saffron Walden, dating from around 1800. The buildings are timber-framed with plastered walls and have a peg-tiled roof. The original plan comprised a rectangular block, now extended with a U-shaped rear lean-to spanning two floors and a ground floor lean-to around the rear yard. The front, or south, elevation features a two-window range, with front doors at the eastern and western ends. The roof is gambrel-shaped with half-hipped ends, topped with a simple block modillioned eaves cornice. A tall, shared 19th-century red brick stack is situated on the front roof pitch.

Number 2, to the east, has a three-cant bay window extending across both floors, corbelled at the base with sash windows featuring 1x4, 3x4, and 1x4 panes. Original exterior hinged side shutters with framed recesses remain on the house wall, while a cellar grating is located below. The doorway has a simple classical design with a plain hood, framing a door of six moulded recessed panels. Two dormer windows with swept roofs and double-hung casements (2x2 panes each) are present in the attic.

Number 3, to the west, is similar in design but with a corbelled bay window only on the ground floor; the upper floor window is a restored 20th-century replacement in an 18th-century style, with a moulded architrave and 4x4 panes. The doorway has a simple weather hood, and the door is a 19th-century design with four bead-moulded flush panels. A single dormer window in the house’s style is in the attic.

The rear, or north, elevation is characterized by a sweeping roofline, with an upper section of clay tiles and a lower section of slates. A large central lateral 19th-century red brick stack is located on the upper part of the main lean-to roof adjacent to Number 3. A 20th-century hipped dormer window with two casements (2x4 panes each) is also present. A taller, slender 19th-century stack marks the western end of the building. An early 19th-century sash window with a moulded architrave and thin glazing bars (3x4 panes) is visible on the first floor of Number 2. Number 3 has 20th-century casement windows, one with 2x2 panes, and one with 3x3 panes.