The Mercant House

House. Dating to the late 14th century, with a parlour cell from the 15th century, largely reconstructed in the late 17th century, and renovated in the 1970s. The house is timber framed with smooth render, and has a pantiled roof, half-hipped to the right with a gablet. The right gable end has a plinth of coursed flint rubble, extending under part of the house and potentially representing the 12th century foundations of St Mary of Grace church. The building has a three-cell form, originally including an open hall. It now has mainly reconstructed mullioned windows, with a tall hall window moved from its original position. A former shop window to the right has a boarded shutter, and a lower window in the right gable end has a pent roof. A cross-entry has a plank door dated 1694, brought from elsewhere. A raking dormer is located to the left. An internal stack has a plain axial shaft.

Inside, the medieval frame retains reverse-curved braces. A stop-splayed scarf joint with undersquinted and sallied butts and face pegs is visible in the rear wallplate. An open truss retains the head of a 14th century crown-post with thick four-way bracing, though the cruciform shaft of the post is a mid-20th century replacement made to the original profile. The tie beam is a replacement re-using the old braces. The remainder of the medieval roof is largely intact, with the half-hipped end reconstructed in the mid-20th century. A collar purlin has a stop-splayed scarf with square butts. A stack was inserted into the upper end of the hall in the early 16th century, replacing a timber flue, and features back-to-back fireplaces on the ground floor. An inserted ceiling from the same date has chamfered joists. The parlour has a late 17th century ceiling with a heavy beam featuring nicked ogee stop-chamfers and small square joists. The service partition is largely reconstructed. A two-centre arched doorway to the rear retains one original blade. Joists in the service end are mostly mid-20th century replacements from a house in Colchester, decorated with stencilled quatrefoils and Tudor roses. A solid-tread stair at the service end was also brought from elsewhere.