Mid to late 18th century timber framed cottage at 22 High Street, Ingatestone (EHER 80800)

22 High Street is a diminutive timber framed cottage of mid to late 18th century date with a late 20th century single storey extension to the rear. The building is rendered on three elevations, with the SW elevation clad in modern timber weatherboard, stained black. The house illustrates a fairly typical small cottage of the period.

January 2024. Heritage assessment. 22 High Street is a diminutive timber framed cottage of mid to late 18th century date which has been subject to some alteration, and modernisation. It has a rear single storey extension, built in the later 20th century, sometime after 1964. This has had some impact on the building’s character and has led to the loss of original fabric. The main range of the building is aligned NW-SE, with its principal façade facing SE, fronting onto the street. Its roof is fully-hipped, has sprocketed eaves and is covered with handmade clay tiles. The main range is of timber-framed construction and is faced with painted render to its front, rear and NE side elevations; the SW side is clad with modern timber weatherboard, stained black. The house illustrates a fairly typical small cottage of the period. It is likely that the rear ground-floor room served as a kitchen, with ancillary areas housed in a rear range, since replaced with the present larger extension. The front first-floor room, which has a higher quality panelled door than those found elsewhere in the cottage, might have provided a more formal room, perhaps a heated sitting parlour. The internal alterations and later 20th century extension illustrate the subsequent development of the cottage, to improve the facilities, with the extension housing a kitchen and bathroom. <1>