The Town House

The Town House, also known as Burnt Oak Cottages, is a range of cottages located on the south side of Burnt Oak in East Bergholt. This building consists of three sections, with the earliest part dating back to the early 16th century facing Flatford Road, a later 16th-century section facing Main Road, and a probable 17th-century addition on the right. The cottages are timber-framed and rendered, topped with a plain tile roof and red brick stacks.

The structure is two storeys high and has an L-plan layout. The front facing Flatford Road features four first-floor windows, two 20th-century doors, and small-paned casements beneath a steeply-pitched hipped roof. The Main Road side has five first-floor windows that are irregularly spaced. The left range is jettied to the rear, while the right range is slightly lower and has a lobby-entry plan with a half-glazed door and an additional entrance in a gabled porch on the gable end.

Inside the Flatford Road range, there are chamfered beams and exposed joists. Number 2 displays jowled posts and a cambered tie-beam, along with an unmoulded crown post that has a mortice for a missing brace to the collar purlin, featuring a splayed scarf. The roof has not been fully inspected. Historically, in 1654, this building was purchased by the Parish Overseers for the purpose of housing paupers.