Details
TL60SE
723-1/3/406
INGATESTONE AND FRYERNING
LITTLE HYDE LANE (south side), Ingatestone,
Little Hyde Farmhouse
GV II
House. Medieval, altered and extended in early C18, C19 and C20. Timber-framed and red and black brick in Flemish bond, roofed with handmade red clay tiles. One range facing approximately N, comprising (1) 2 bays of a medieval house, being the ‘high end’ bay of the hall, and the in-line parlour/solar bay to the right, with an C18 axial stack at the junction (2) a C19 extension to the right, with an internal stack against the rear wall (3) a C20 single-storey wing in front of it (the farm office) (4) an early C18 rebuild to the left, on the site of (and possibly incorporating part of) the ‘low end’ bay of the hall, now an entrance stair/hall (5) a late C19 cross-wing to left of it, with an internal stack at left (6) a single-storey lean-to extension to left of it, dated 1924 (7) and a late C20 lean-to extension to rear of it, completing a rectangular plan with the cross-wing, which extends a little to the rear of the main range.
2 storeys and cellar. The front elevation has on the ground floor two C19 casements with segmental brick arches, and 3 on the first floor without arches, other windows being C20 casements. C20 half-glazed door in C20 doorcase with pediment. Early C18 brickwork, the black headers forming a regular pattern, from the C19 cross-wing to a straight joint in line with the axial stack. The inscription ‘SV 1736’ is scratched in 2 adjacent bricks about 1.50m above ground, probably the date of construction of this wall. To the right of it another section of C18 brickwork, as far as a straight joint with the C19 extension, with some black bricks below the ground-floor window, but mainly of red brick. Raised band of 3 courses of brick at first-floor level, on both sections. Moulded wooden eaves cornice. The rear elevation has on the first floor two C18 3-light casements with rectangular leading in the outer fixed lights, central casements replaced, each with a flat arch of brick on edge, one retaining the original twisted wrought-iron stay bar; other windows are C19 and C20 casements. The bricks at the rear are the same type as at the front, but the black headers are less consistent, indicating that the best bricks were used at the front; there is no joint between the two C19 extensions.
INTERIOR: is mainly plastered. To left of the axial stack is a transverse beam, partly chamfered, and a chamfered axial beam extended by about one metre at the left end, probably indicating the removal of a C16 inserted stack in the ‘low end’ bay of the hall. Above the first floor are transverse beams at each end of this bay, and an axial beam. The roof retains the only visible evidence of the medieval structure. The left bay, 3.66m long by 5.03m span internally has most of the original rafters and collars in situ, heavily smoke-blackened, except for an early C17 dormer to the rear, later removed. To left of it is a cambered tie-beam with a mortice for a crownpost, of the open truss between the bays of a 2-bay hall. The roof of the ‘low end’ bay has been rebuilt in the course of removing a C16 stack and forming the present entrance/stair hall. The parlour/solar bay to the right, 3.50m long internally and of the same span, has all the original rafters and collars in situ, not smoke-blackened. Early C19 stair with moulded and wreathed hardwood handrail and stick balusters. The cross-wing is believed to date from 1899 on the basis of a slate with that date found in the roof; it is not shown on the OS map of 1894.
HISTORICAL NOTE: the holding is recorded as Barwyks in the Petre archives, with only one acre. The page of the 1556 survey relating to it is missing. The court rolls record re-tiling of the house in 1560, re-thatching of the barn in 1571. From 1587 to 1596 it was occupied by Francis Paperell, a turner. In the Walker map of 1601 it is shown as a 2 storey building with central entrance and central stack, and one window to each side on each floor, with a low ancillary building receding to rear right, which is difficult to reconcile with the surviving evidence of the medieval house (Essex Record Office). Loose in the front garden are 2 ornamental fragments from The Hyde, a mansion built in 1719, destroyed by fire in 1965 and later demolished, which was 450m to the WSW. These are a stone crest with the initials ‘E D’ and ‘B D’ (for Disney) and a stone sculpture of a lion passant.
(Essex Record Office: D/DP M.96-101:8)
