The Hatch

The Hatch is a house from the first half of the 17th century, located on Pig Lane in Westland Green, Little Hadham. It is one and a half storeys tall and timber-framed, facing north. The roof is thatched and half-hipped, featuring an eyebrow dormer positioned over the middle of the house. The upper part of the front wall displays close-studding, while modern pargetting is used in panels. The lower part and other walls are covered in weatherboarding. At the rear and across the west end, there is a modern extension that is both thatched and weatherboarded. The windows are modern wooden casements.

The house follows a 3-unit lobby-entry plan and has a very large central chimney located at the lower end (west) of the hall, with undivided external gable chimneys on both the west and east sides. The east chimney is off-centre and incorporates a brick marked with '18TC32'. Inside, axial chamfered floor beams support exposed squared joists, and straight tension braces are present in the partition wall. The rear wall plate is jointed with a face-halved and bladed scarf joint, and there are straight braces to the tie beam at the east end. The roof features clasped purlins. There is separate access at the east end, and a door cut through the tie beam suggests the possibility of an open hall. The front of the house has a rustic gabled canopy and a three-light window from the early 19th century to the right.