Description

TL 8618-8718
10/259

KELVEDON
MALDON ROAD (east side)
Bridgefoot House

(Formerly listed as Bridgefoot Farmhouse)

2.5.53

GV II*

House. C15 and C16, altered in C17 and C18. Timber framed, plastered with some
painted brick, roofed with handmade red plain tiles. Complex plan comprising
(1) 2-bay hall range facing NW, late C16, with external stack to rear, (2) 2-bay
crosswing to right, C15, with c18 external stack to rear, (3) extension to right
of it, one long and one short bay, early C17, with internal stack at end, (4)
single-storey extension beyond, (5) 3-bay crosswing to left of hall, projecting
to front and rear, with (originally) external stack to left, late C16, (6) stair
annexe in the angle to front right to it, (7) 2 parallel extensions to left of
this crosswing, enclosing the stack, CL8, (8) closet annex to rear of hall
range, to left of stack, (9) jettied annex to rear of hall range, to right of
stack. At the right end a C20 single-storey link with flat roof connects the
house with a large ancillary building to the SE (item 10/260, q.v.). 2 storeys
with attics. Scattered fenestration, mostly late C19 sashes and casements, but
including (1) on ground floor near left end, one C18/19 horizontal sash of 18
lights, (2) on first floor of left crosswing, one early C18 sash of L2 lights
with crown glass, (3) in hipped dormer over hall range, incomplete C18 casement
with rectangular leaded lights. Early C18 door with 6 fielded panels in left
crosswing, doorcase with fluted jambs, 2 fielded panels above, and flat canopy
with panelled soffit and moulded edge on heavy scrolled brackets. The roof of
the left crosswing has been raised approx. 0.5 metre in the mid-Cl7, with both
pairs of wallplates visible externally. The right crosswing exhibits externally
one collar of its crownpost, roof. The roof of the hall range extends from the
ridge of one crosswing to the ridge of the other. The hall range has on the
ground floor a wide wood-burning hearth, at the left end late C16 oak panelling,
at the right end a re-sited oak screen with chamfered muntins and middle rail,
early C16; and a chamfered axial beam with lamb's tongue stops, joists plastered
to the soffit. The upper storey is extensively lined with early C18 pine
panelling, with a contemporary moulded plaster coving round the ceiling, and a
white marble fire surround with simple roll moulding (disused). The roof is of
side-purlin construction, formerly with raking struts to the principals and
paired arched braces to the purlins, some structure removed for use as an attic.
The right crosswing has jowled posts, curved braces trenched outside the
studding, a chamfered binding beam with mortices for a removed central
partition; at first floor rear a shutter rebate and diamond mortices for an
unglazed window, and a complete crownpost roof with axial braces. The extension
to the right has jowled posts, a cambered tiebeam, and one chamfered brace to it
at the front; there are no mortices for an equivalent brace at the rear. The
left crosswing is larger in all dimensions than the preceding parts, with empty
mortices in the binding beam for a former partition between the middle and rear
bays, later partitioned between the middle and front bays to form an
entrance-hall; plain joists of horizontal section, partly exposed in the front
bay; late C16 oak panelling at ground and first floor; 2 late C16 wood-burning
hearths with depressed arches, stripped of plaster; above the ground-floor
hearth, painted on plaster, a late C16 text from the Geneva bible, Psalm 1-4;
and above the first-floor hearth, a similar text, Psalm 114. This house retains
an unusual number of early features, internal and external. RCHM 48.

Listing NGR: TL8611718055

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17557824

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.

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