Summary

An early to mid-C19 house.

Description

An early to mid- C19 house.

MATERIALS.
Red brick laid in Flemish bond with a peg-tiled roof covering.

EXTERIOR.
A two storey cottage of two bays with a ridged and hipped to the east with eaves and a red brick end stack. The south facing elevation has a central door to the ground floor with 2 leaves comprising 6 fielded panels. The door case has panelled reveals and a flat leaded hood. The entrance door is flanked by two, 8 over 8 sash windows with rendered, straight heads matched with two on the first floor.

INTERIOR.
Not inspected, but believed to comprise two heated ground floor rooms; the fireplaces are said to have been removed, but the plain wooden surrounds remain.

History

Wivenhoe has Saxon origins; the Domesday Book of 1086 records a small settlement of fewer than thirty adults, livestock and a mill.

In the early C15, the town was owned by the Earls of Oxford, passing to Roger Townshend in the late C16. It seems probable that riverine trade and fishing played a significant economic role in the early development of the town. Ship building is documented from the late-C16 and continued to be an important activity throughout the post-medieval period producing both commercial and military craft near to the quayside up until the mid C20. A vibrant port had developed by the C18. Shipbuilding continued to dominate and associated buildings such as public houses, maltings and housing, grew in number. A bath-house was built in 1750 by local doctor, Horace Flack and a workhouse was constructed at The Cross. Racing vessels were built from the early C19, and continued to be produced throughout the century. The town expanded with the coming of the railways, when its fishery could reach wider audiences, but until the mid-C20 shipbuilding still dominated the economic fortunes of the town. Military vessels and sections of the mulberry harbour, crucial to the success of the D-day landings, were built here, but both of the principal shipyards went out of business in the late-C20.

The draft Conservation Area Appraisal of 2007 describes Wivenhoe as an attractive small port which retains its maritime character along the Quay and Anchor Hill. Its historic core, nestling beside the river Colne and framed to the north by the C14 Church of St. Mary, is visually distinctive and maintains the vibrancy of its historic past.

Quay Cottage is an early to mid-C19 dwelling near to the quayside. It is little altered; minor consented window changes occurred in the early C21.

Reasons for Listing

Quay Cottage, The Quay, Wivenhoe, a house predating 1840, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural interest: the house retains a well-executed facade with polite detailing to the doors and windows;
* Group value: with the adjacent Berry House and The Vines, and other buildings on The Quay, listed at Grade II, contributes to its special interest.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26519442

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

• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)