Former 19th century cart lodge or stable, turned function room at 47-51 Newland Street, Witham (EHER 80280)

Demolished in 2021. A single-storey timber framed cart lodge or stable, made from re-used timbers and with a 20th century extension on the Western end, constructed at the time of its conversion to a function room.

June 2020. Heritage assessment. The outbuilding is a single-storey gabled structure and is timber-framed with later brick built additions. Aside from the bracing members, most of the structural timbers within the outbuilding are hand-sawn and show evidence of re-use, suggesting the structure was raised from the remains of an earlier building or buildings. The outbuilding was converted into a function room for the Spread Eagle hotel in the 20th century by the addition of an extension on its Western end, and the infilling of several bay-wide entrances into the structure. Given the size of these original entrances, which were probably for the egress of horses or carts, and the location of the outbuilding behind the hotel, an original interpretation of the structure as a cart lodge or stable seems logical. Alternatively, there is the possibility that the outbuilding was originally a horse hospital, as one is mentioned in deeds from the early 19th century as being extant in the yard behind the Spread Eagle hotel. <1> June to September 2020. Demolition. The building was demolished sometime between June 2020 and September 2020, in advance of the construction of seven new dwellings. September 2020. Trial trenching. Archaeological evaluation revealed a post-medieval brick foundation. The brick foundation could have been part of an internal feature for the 19th-century outbuilding that was demolished before the evaluation took place, but is perhaps more likely to be part of an earlier structure. <2>