No. 36 High Street, Church Cottage and Garden House, formerly known as The Falcon public house

Summary

A house of the C17 and earlier, known as The Falcon public house from the C18 and converted into residential units in the 1970s.

Reasons for Designation

The Falcon (no.36 High Street), Church Cottage and Garden House, a vernacular house of the C15, C17 and C18, and the former Falcon public house subdivided in the late-C20, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: despite some alterations, the building retains a significant proportion of historic fabric, a well-executed west elevation and C15 and C17 timber framing of high status and good craftsmanship to the south elevation;
* Historic interest: the historic alteration to the buildings demonstrates the development of the vernacular tradition from the late medieval into the early post-medieval period, and reflects the increasing industrialisation of the historic urban area;
* Group value: with numerous listed buildings in the vicinity and the Church of St Mary the Virgin, listed at Grade II*.

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.

No. 36 High Street, Church Cottage and Garden House date from the C17 and earlier. The earliest phases comprises a timber-framed house, thought to have C15 ground floor frame topped by a C17 first floor structure, which was re-fronted with a brick range probably in the C18 when the building was recorded as The Falcon public house and is documented as having a warehouse, brewery and a bowling green. Meetings of the vestry, a friendly society, and the Wivenhoe Association against Housebreakers, besides auctions and bankruptcy conferences were held at The Falcon; the landlord arranged cricket matches and dances, and ran a post chaise service. The Falcon was known as a hotel from the late-C19, but closed shortly after it was listed in 1973 when it was converted into three residential units, which presumably necessitated internal reordering. Additional consented alterations to Garden House have subsequently taken place.

Details

A C17 and earlier house, known as The Falcon public house from the C18, converted into three residences in the 1970s.

MATERIALS.
Timber framed structure with brick west front and slate and tiled covering to the roofs.

PLAN.
An evolved 'L' shape with a rear (north) yard and outbuildings (not observed).

EXTERIOR.
A two storey building. The facade of the brick range (no. 36 High Street in 2013) faces the High Street to the west and has a slated catslide roof. The central, two-leaf entrance door on the ground floor has carved detailing under a scrolled stucco hood, flanked on either side by semi-hexagonal bay windows with small-paned sashes. On the first floor are three part sashes with small-panes under key-stoned stucco arches.

The rear range (Church Cottage and Garden House in 2013) has an C17 exposed timber frame comprising close-studding and straight bracing, surmounting an early C15 ground storey frame that has an underbuilt jetty. The hipped roof is peg-tiled and has overhanging eaves. The ground floor has three semi-hexagonal bay windows with peg-tiled conoid roofs and modern sashes, two modern pedimented entrance doors centrally and to the right (east) and a door with a pent roof to the left (west). There are four modern sashes to the first floor.

INTERIOR.
Not inspected.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

421636

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Websites
British History Online, accessed . from http://www.british-history.ac.uk
Wivenhoe Town Council, accessed . from http://www.wivenhoe.gov.uk

Other
Colchester Borough Council and Qube Planning, Wivenhoe Conservation Area: Appraisal and Management Guidelines, March 2007,

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