Houses with cruck frames are extremely rare in Essex but recently, Snow Walker undertook a comprehensive building survey on an old aisled hall, with base cruck support, thought to be between 500 and 600 years old.
The heavy timber-framed, rendered cottage, under a long straw hipped roof, with some reed mat flecking underneath, boasted exciting period features. These included an old bread oven projecting through a rear wall, unjowelled heads to arcade posts, passing braces from wall posts to tie beams and some ancient splayed scarf jointed timbers. There was also a sooted collar rafter roof, being where the old smoke hood opening would have been formed. The original holding would have had a hearth in the centre of the old hall and smoke from the fire would have filtered up through the open hole in the roof.
Naturally, the importance of this fascinating building is recognised with a Grade II Star listing.
