Cock and Bell is a Grade II* listed building in the Uttlesford local planning authority area, England. First listed on 7 February 1952. Public house. 5 related planning applications.
Cock and Bell
- WRENN ID
- ghost-spandrel-sunrise
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Uttlesford
- Constituency
- North West Essex MP: Mrs Kemi Badenoch (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 7 February 1952
- Type
- Public house
- Address
- Cock and Bell, the Street, High Easter, CM1 4QW
- OS grid reference
- TL 620 147
- Coordinates
- 51.80783, 0.34936
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Cock and Bell is a public house dating to circa 1400, with significant alterations in the 16th century. It is timber framed and plastered, with the timber frame exposed on the front and north flank. The roofs are gabled and covered in peg tiles. The building has an "H" plan form with crosswings at the north and south ends, and is two storeys high.
The north crosswing is jettied on its north and west faces, featuring a dragon post with a moulded capital, original jetty brackets, and double bracing on the front. A three-light window on the corner has glazed, hollow-chamfered mullions. The central "hall" block is contemporary with the north crosswing and was formerly jettied along its front; this is now concealed by a single-storey infill block of white plastered brick with a parapet. The south crosswing, dating to the 16th century, displays exposed timber framing with evidence of a former pair of oriel windows, and two original jetty brackets. A window opening with an arch head on the upper floor flank is now blocked with plaster. A large stack projects through the flat roofed extension against the flank wall of this wing. The windows are a mix of 18th-century double-hung sash windows with small panes and 20th-century casements. A canted 18th-century bay window with double-hung sashes is located under the north jetty.
Inside the north crosswing, there are two bays with chamfered girts, a cambered central tie beam on knee brackets, and a crown post roof with longitudinal braces. On the upper floor, a narrow arch-headed door leads to a first-floor chamber or hall. This chamber has soffit tenoned floor joists and a potentially original rear lean-to. The lean-to is a large bay with traces of an old floor opening, likely for a former smoke hood. The 16th-century south crosswing has a moulded, arch-headed parlour door and moulded bridging joists on moulded impost blocks. This wing comprises three bays, and the rear chamber has a blocked arch-headed window overlooking the rear yard.
Attached to the rear of the main building is a range of outbuildings, some two-storey and some single-storey, with pantile and peg tile roofs. A single-storey 20th-century block with a gable peg tile roof is attached to the rear of the north wing.
Local climate
Cock and Bell 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 97% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 94% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 54% 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
Sign in or create a free account to unlock:
- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- Sale history — 4 transactions since 2003
- Related listed building consents — 5 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.
Similar buildings
The closest matches to this building from all 493,000 UK listed buildings, by architecture, period and materials.
this building 1 similar nearby listed buildings