20, 22 AND 24, HIGH STREET

A group of shops, originally a house, dating to the late 14th century, located on the west side of Great Dunmow High Street. The building was initially an 'H' shaped hall house with a hip roof covered in peg tiles to the front, and a gable on the rear of the south crosswing. A long north crosswing has a gabled extension behind, roofed with slate and covered in weatherboarding. The first floor front features double-hung sash windows in both crosswings, a double-hung sashed oriel bay window, and a single similar sash window in the hall block. The ground floor now has two 20th-century shopfronts (in No. 24), an early 19th-century shopfront in No. 22, and a more original early 19th-century shopfront in No. 20, featuring thin edge pilasters, painted timber stallrisers, and a double entrance door. The front has coved eaves, and a lean-to extension on the south end with a slate roof and a single first-floor double-hung sash window. Fragments of old pargeting are visible on the front.

The interior reveals the remains of a late 14th-century hall house with two crosswings. Notable features include a steeply raking central tie beam with moulded chamfers and top plates, elaborate crown posts over the crosswings and hall, with four-way bracing, and moulded capitals and bases. The north crosswing displays remains of an open-roofed end smoke bay. Both crosswings were originally jettied. A timber-cased yard pump is located to the rear of No. 20.