Castle Moat House

Castle Moat House is a house dating to the late 16th century, with alterations and extensions in the 18th and 19th centuries. The front range is timber-framed and has a pebbledashed and colourwashed finish, while the rear range is colourwashed roughcast over brickwork. The north range has old red tile roofing, and the central part and rear sections have Welsh slate roofs. Brick outbuildings and yellow brick chimneys with oversailing courses are a feature. The front (west) range is set at a right angle to the street, with a late 19th-century extension on the east side and an outshut.

The two- and three-storey front has a two-storey canted bay window on the left with triple sash windows with divided glazing, separated by pilasters. Above is a sash window, and a modern half-glazed door within an architrave surround with a cornice hood supported on shallow profiled brackets. A similar two-storey canted bay window is on the right, with multi-pane casements. A tile weather band runs above the ground-floor window heads.

The north elevation, facing the street, has two 12-pane wood Yorkshire sash windows on the first floor, and two flush-set sashes with divided glazing and architrave surrounds on the ground floor. A 19th-century outshut in the centre has two recessed 12-pane sashes on the first floor and three small 4-pane casements on the ground floor. A one-bay infill section on the far left (east) connects to the raised roof of the coach house and stables at No. 23. This section includes a sash window with margin glazing on the first floor and a 20th-century glazed door on the ground floor.

The interior has not been inspected.

The name ‘Castle Moat House’ and its location near the double moat suggest a very early origin. It may have been one of three houses built outside the town walls, as referred to in a survey from 1609-10, and remained outside the Borough in Brickendon Liberty until the mid-17th century.