The Mercant House

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TM 16 SE 6/76

DEBENHAM GRACE CHURCH STREET No.24 (The Merchant House)

(Formerly listed as Nos. 22 & 24)

12/1/73

GV II

House. Late C14; parlour cell C15, largely reconstructed late C17. Renovated 1970's. Timber framed with smooth render. Pantiled roof, half-hipped to right with a gablet. Right gable end has a plinth of coursed flint rubble. This work extends under part of the house and may be the C12 foundations of St Mary of Grace church. Three-cell form with former open hall. Mainly reconstructed mullioned windows, the tall hall window moved slightly from its original position. Former shop window to right has boarded shutter. Lower window in right gable end has pent roof. Cross-entry has plank door dated 1694, brought from elsewhere. One raking dormer to left. Internal stack has plain axial shaft.

Interior. Medieval frame has reverse-curved braces. In rear wallplate a stop-splayed scarf joint with undersquinted and sallied butts and face pegs. Open truss retains head of C14 crown-post with thick four-way bracing; cruciform shaft of post is mid C20 (to original profile); the tie beam is a replacement re-using the old braces. Remainder of medieval roof largely intact, the half-hipped end a mid C20 reconstruction. Collar purlin has a stop-splayed scarf with square butts. Stack inserted into upper end of hall in early C16, replacing a timber flue: back-to-back fireplaces on ground floor. Inserted ceiling of same date has chamfered joists. Parlour has late C17 ceiling: heavy beam with nicked ogee stop-chamfers, small square joists. Service partition largely reconstructed. Two-centre arched doorway to rear, one of the blades original. Joists in service end are mostly mid C20 imports from a house in Colchester; they have stencilled quatrefoils and Tudor roses. Solid-tread stair at service end also brought from elsewhere.

Listing NGR: TM1722263268