Description

TL64 SE STEEPLE BUMPSTEAD CHURCH STREET 2/57 The Gun House, (formerly 7/8/52 listed as Parsonage Farmhouse) GV II*

Hall house, C15 or earlier, extended in C16 and Cl9. Mainly timber framed and plastered, partly of painted brick in English bond, roofed with handmade red clay tiles. 3-bay hall aligned NE-SW, C15 or earlier. 2-bay SW crosswing of brick, late C16, with contemporary external chimney stack on SW wall. 3-bay NE crosswing jettied on 3 sides, with central chimney stack, c.1600, forming an H-plan. Stair tower in S angle, c.1600. C19 single-storey extension to SE of SW wing. 2 storeys and attics in NE wing, one storey and attic in hall range, 2 storeys in SW wing. NW elevation, half-glazed door, 2 C20 casement windows, 2 C20 double-hung sash windows. The NE wing has a moulded bressumer. The SW wing is splayed at the ground floor with a blocked original window in each splay, one exhibiting a 2-centred arch, and has a jetty above. First floor, 3 C20 casement windows, of which one is in a gabled dormer. Attic floor, one C19/20 casement window. Grouped diagonal shafts on SW stack, rebuilt at top. The interior has jowled posts and heavy studding. The hall has an internal jetty at the NE end, a rare feature in Essex, and the line of the cross-entry below it is still in use. There is exposed studding with display bracing at the SW end, at ground-floor level. A floor is inserted on pegged clamps, late C16. The main tiebeam is steeply cambered, originally with deep arched braces which have been cut back. Originally the roof was of crownpost construction, but it has been rebuilt in the C17 in clasped purlin form, leaving a few pairs of smoke-blackened rafters in situ. At the NE end the upper studs retain original plastered wattle and daub infill, heavily smoke-blackened. The SW crosswing has a plain-chamfered binding beam with lamb's tongue stops, and late C16 oak panelling on the NE wall. There is similar panelling on the SE wall of the hall. The NE crosswing is divided at both floors into 2 and one bays, with an arched doorhead between them on the first floor, partly obscured by modern timber. The binding beams are plain-chamfered with lamb's tongue stops, with plain joists of square section. On the upper floor there is arched bracing trenched inside the studding. There is a C17 inserted ceiling above the first floor, on plain-chamfered beams with lamb's tongue stops. The roof is of clasped purlin construction. This house was originally arranged with the service end to the NE, the parlour/solar end to the SW. In the late C16 the original parlour/solar end was demolished and replaced by the present brick wing. A chimney stack was inserted near the SW end of the hall (which now terminates below roof level) and a floor was inserted in the hall. About the end of the C16, as standards of domestic accommodation continued to rise, the original service end was demolished and the present NE wing built as parlour and solar, reversing the earlier arrangement of the house. In the C19 a service wing was added to the SW wing, and it still retains that function. The position, only 60 metres from the church, suggests that it was a priest's house originally, and the former name confirms that it became a parsonage after the Reformation. RCHM 16.

Listing NGR: TL6795641029

External Links

• Wikidata Q17557091

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