Mashams

Details

TL 519 091 HIGH LAVER 5/6 Mashams

11*

Hall house, c.1400, altered in late C16/early C17. Timber framed, plastered with frame exposed externally, roof thatched. 2-bay hall aligned approx. E-W, integral storeyed parlour/solar end to E, crosswing to W, originally jettied to S, now underbuilt. Original main door to S, at W end of hall, now blocked by inserted brick chimney stack, late C16/early C17, and forming an alcove accessible from outside only, the present door being to the N. Single-storey with attics, and 2 storeys in crosswing. S elevation, original doorway with 3-centred arch, blocked internally as above, 3 C2O leaded casement windows; on first floor, one more, and another in eyebrow dormer. Roof hipped at W, half-hipped at E. Framing exposed internally. Jowled posts, heavy studding, curved braces trenched outside, interrupted tiebeam construction at E end. wattle and daub infill in external and internal walls largely intact. Hall window to N with transom, heavy centre mullion and 2 diamond mullions to each side, with C20 leaded glazing outside. Cambered central tiebeam chamfered below in 2 orders, with one deep arched brace present. Octagonal central crownpost with 4 arched braces. Original roof of main block intact with all rafters, collars and collar-purlin. Roof of crosswing rebuilt. Timber framed smoke hood, mid-C16, over whole W bay of hall, intact, a rare survival, with inserted brick chimney inside it, late C16, leaving the timber structure unaltered. Second brick chimney, back to back with the first, early C17, in the original cross-entry, blocking it and forming the external alcove described above. Original floor in E bay, of lodged longitudinal joists of horizontal section. Inserted floor in E bay of hall, of longitudinal joists of vertical section, exposed. Original floorboards. Edge-halved and bridled scarf in S wallplate. This house contains an exceptional number of original features, and illustrates particularly clearly a sequence of development which was common in other hall houses in Essex, but where the evidence is now less satisfactory. Up to the C16 it had an open hall, with a hearth in the W bay, separated from the cross- entry by a reredos of non-flammable material, probably flint rubble or mud. In the early or mid-C16 a timber framed structure was built around the hearth, and a pyramidal smoke hood above, occupying the W bay of the hall from tiebeam to tiebeam - all of which is still present. This left the cross-entry unobstructed. Later a floor was inserted in the hall, the upper room thus provided being lit at first by the upper part of the hall window. Later still, a dormer window was constructed; the,evidence of the Walker maps in Essex Record Office suggests that this development did not occur until after 1600. In the early C17 a second brick chimney was built, back to back with the first, blocking the cross-entry, converting the original service end to a parlour, the original parlour at the E end becoming a service room - as it is still. In a larger house the chimney stacks could have been placed axially, producing a lobby-entrance to the front, but here the first stack was off-centre, against the S wall, so a lobby-entrance developed to the N, as it has remained. The jetty was underbuilt, re-using the same timbers, and the house was clad with weatherboards, over the original wattle and daub; the weatherboarding was removed in the early years of the C20, since when there have been no other significant alterations.

Listing NGR: TL5190409066

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

118085

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.