6, 8 AND 10, THE STREET

BRAMFORD THE STREET TM 1246 9/93 Nos. 6,8 and 10 (Formerly listed as Nos 1, 2 and 3 Oak Cottages) 9.12.55 - II

Three houses, formerly The Bell Inn. A late-mediaeval H-plan open-hall house, perhaps built in 2 or 3 stages. 2 storeys. Timber-framed and plastered; the upper floors of both cross-wings are jettied towards the street. Plaintiled roofs with axial and external chimneys of red brick. C19 small-pane casements; the ground storey windows of both cross-wings have hinged boarded shutters. Boarded entrance doors. The centre range (No.8) comprises a C15 open hall of 2 equal bays. The open truss has a cambered and hollow-chamfered tie-beam and evidence for massive arch-bracing. Good quality close studwork; a 6-light diamond mullioned window in the front wall. An unmoulded upper floor was inserted in C16. The left-hand cross-wing has a pointed arched doorway into the hall and may be of c.1400 or earlier. The right-hand cross- wing has exposed tension-braced close-studwork and may have been added as a parlour/solar wing in late C15 or early C16; the chimney between parlour and hall is probably a C17 insertion. All roofs were renewed in C19.

Listing NGR: TM1239846407