41 And 43 Castle Street / 43 Castle Street

Description

This information is taken from the statutory List as it was in 2001 and may not be up to date.

SAFFRON WALDEN

TL5338 CASTLE STREET 669-1/1/71 (North side) 28/11/51 Nos.41 AND 43

GV II*

Formerly known as: No.43 CASTLE STREET. House, now 2 units, one of 3 `Wealden' recessed hall houses in a row. Early C16. Timber-framed and plastered, peg-tiled roof, red brick stack. L shaped plan of original street range with C19 and C20 rear additions extending to N behind No.43. 2 storeys. Front, S elevation: broad recessed bay to W, shorter jettied bay to E. Integral roof has typical Wealden exterior arched braces rising to flying eaves of W bay. Single windows on each floor in each bay. Ground, floor, W-E, doorway of passageway through to rear, door C20, boarded with upper iron grilled light, C19 bay window with glazing bars, 11x4 panes, doorway with moulded architrave and C19 6-panelled door, mid C19 canted bay window under jetty with glazing bars, 6x3 panes. First floor, W-E, two 4x4 paned sash windows, plastering round W window has remnants of basket pattern pargetting with rustic serpentine border on E and W sides. Rear, N elevation: has shared continuous ground floor lean-to of C19 brick and cobble with slate roof. All now refurbished in C20 with new doors and windows. Further extension N of No.43 similar with weatherboarding and corrugated asbestos roof. No.43 has additionally a narrow slate roof swept from house to outshut eaves. Passageway to street in No.41 shows some principal outer framing with slender post-medieval stud infilling. Principal range, first floor, No.43 has early C19 sash window with glazing bars, 3x4 panes and moulded architrave. No.41 has central 2-light window with leaded panes, each side, a small narrow round headed window with central rectangular lift in soffits. INTERIOR: ground floor division of original open hall and storeyed jettied end with original joists clear. Stair trap at rear, also principal posts of spere truss towards W end. First floor, spere truss has evidence of original arched bracing. Rear hall window rebate remains. Storeyed bay has window shutter grooves, both at back and front with associated edge-halved and bridle-butted scarf joints in wall top plates.

Simple crown post roof partitioned at hall ends with soot remaining. Present E end of building not differentiated by a truss as the original end appears to lie within No.45 (qv) at a crown post truss. Indentical construction in Nos 45 & 47 implies a common building date. The original form of Nos 41 & 43 was of a Wealden house, having a central hall with a spere truss to divide off the cross-entry (now occupied by through passage at W end to rear). The hall proper was of a single bay with large window to rear as well as presumably at front. The E storeyed bay was a little longer than appears from the street. RCHM notes the removal of an internal doorway with 4-centred arched head to the Saffron Walden Museum. Now on display, it comprises one doorway of the service pair. It has central post with seating for second head, cyma and hollow chamfer moulding. Also, RCHM recorded areas of wall painting, copy of which is in the museum, described as cross-hatched vase with flowers, zig-zag black lines. The house was a full Wealden house, as RCHM records the removal of the W storeyed (low) bay. The preserved service doorway will have come from the present W end of the building, adjoining Bellingham Buildings (qv).

Listing NGR: TL5369738692

Content

This is part of the Series: IOE01/0547 IOE Records taken by Dominic Davey; within the Collection: IOE01 Images Of England

Rights

© Mr Dominic Davey. Source: Historic England Archive

This photograph was taken for the Images of England project