Description

TL 7031-7131
5/175
24.6.83

WETHERSFIELD
HIGH STREET
(north side)
Virginia House and The Stores

GV
II

House, now house and shop. C.1570, altered in C18 and c.1900. Timber framed,
plastered, roofed with handmade red clay tiles. Main range of 4 bays facing
approx. SE, and rear wing of 2 bays at left end, with originally external stack
in rear angle, now enclosed by C18 extension to rear. C17 external stack at
right end of main range. Extension behind right bay, and single-storey lean-to
extension beyond. C18 extension in front of left bay, now forming shop. C19
extension of red brick with slate roof behind left bay, and C20 extension
beyond. The left bay of the main range, with extensions in front and behind it,
now form The Stores; the remainder is Virginia House. 2 storeys and cellar.
The Stores, C19 shopfront with central half-glazed door, early C19 sash of 6
lights above, and hipped roof. Plain bargeboards in left return. Virginia
House, two 2-storey splayed bays of sashes of 2-4-2 lights, c.1900, and central
6-panel door, of which the top panels are glazed. The original building has
jowled posts, close studding with curved braces trenched to the inside chamfered
axial beams with lamb's tongue stops, chamfered joists of horizontal section
with lamb's tongue stops in the 2 middle bays, elsewhere plain, and a crownpost
roof with axial bracing. Large wood-burning hearth on the ground floor with
rebuilt depressed arch, smaller hearth above with original depressed arch,
stripped of plaster. On the first floor of The Stores, wood-burning hearth with
band of ornamental plaster on mantel, with design of shells, foliage, diamonds,
flowers and interlacing. On the first floor of Virginia House, unglazed window
with 2 of 3 diamond mullions, blocked by the C17 external stack, and a complete
range of oak panelled cupboards with 8 cockshead hinges, c.1600, a rare feature.
The front of Virginia House has original frieze windows with moulded mullions
and diamond saddle bars on both floors. The combination of early glazed windows
at the front, an unglazed window at the side, lamb's tongue stops and a
crownpost roof makes the original building finely datable to c.1570. (J.
Mccann, The Introduction of the Lamb's Tongue Stop, Historic Buildings in Essex
2, 1985). RCHM 7.

Listing NGR: TL7125531325

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26461931

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]