Hurdles (EHER 35549)

Site of 18th to 19th century timber-framed house.

2009. Building survey Recently fire damaged and application to demolish has been agreed (25/06/09). Lower Green, Essex, in advance of the demolition of the building following a fire earlier in the year. There is physical evidence for three phases of work within The Hurdles. It appears to have been built in the latter part of the 18th century, possibly as a lobby entry house. The building appears to have been subdivided in the 19th century, when a new staircase was installed in a new extension at the western end of the building and a new fireplace constructed at the eastern end of the house. A number of machine cut timbers and poles were added at this time. The building took its present form in the late 20th century, when the building became a single entity and single storey extensions were added to both end. The western fireplace was also rebuilt and new windows, insulation and much new timberwork was incorporated to walls and the upper floor. The cartographic evidence suggests that the building was first erected after 1838, which if true, would point to an extremely anachronistic building style, possibly indicative of poor economic conditions. <1>