George and Dragon Mountnessing, England

Text courtesy of Historic England. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

MOUNTNESSING

TQ69NW ROMAN ROAD 723-1/6/468 (North West side) 20/02/76 No.294 George and Dragon Inn (Formerly Listed as: BRENTWOOD ROMAN ROAD, Mountnessing (North West side) No.294 George and Dragon Inn)

GV II

House, now public house and restaurant. C15 and late C17, altered and extended in C19 and C20. Timber-framed, plastered and weatherboarded, roofed with handmade red clay tiles. C15 main range facing SE, extended to left in late C17, with C17/18 external stack at left end and C19 external stack at right end. Late C17 2-bay wing to rear left, with C19 external stack to left of it. Complex series of C19 and C20 extensions to rear and rear right. 2 storeys and cellar. Ground floor, 2 splayed bays of C20 sashes with rectangular leading. First floor, three C20 casements with diamond leading. Two C20 half-glazed doors with flat canopies on arched brackets. INTERIOR: on the ground floor all original internal walls have been removed, and much reused timber introduced as decor. Chamfered transverse and axial beams in 4 bays, with exposed joists in the 3 left bays, joists plastered to the soffits in the front half of the right bay; in the rear half the joists have been removed, and the rear half of one transverse beam has been removed, the floor suspended on an iron tie. In the left bay the joists are plain and of vertical section, in the next bay plain and of horizontal section, jointed to the axial beam with central tenons and housed soffits, being the original floor of the storeyed end of the medieval house; and in the third bay, the joists are chamfered with lamb's tongue stops, being the late C16 inserted floor in the hall of the medieval house. The girts are boxed above the bay windows. All 3 ground-floor hearths are C20. At the right end the removal of a section of floor, and the ceiling above, opens a void to the rafters; much introduced timber, brick nogging and random stone infill used as decor. The first floor is less altered but walls and ceilings are mainly plastered. In the 2 left bays of the main range unjowled posts and some light studding with primary straight bracing are exposed. A jowled post is exposed at the front right corner. C18 hearth at left end with curved rear splays. Most of the roof is original and intact, of butt-purlin construction in the 2 left bays, of crownpost construction in the bay to the right, with axial braces, all smoke-blackened; the right bay is inaccessible. The rear left wing has above the ground floor one chamfered transverse beam with lamb's tongue stops; on the first floor one straight brace outside the studding is exposed, and a chamfered wallplate with mitred stops; butt-purlin roof, complete. The ground floor of this building is so much altered that there is little left to conserve except the outside walls; the use of introduced materials from diverse sources has devalued what remains. The greater part of the first floor is still intact, and this and the upper parts of the building retain their historic value, and merit appropriate conservation. The void at the rear right part of the main range probably represents the removal of a post-medieval stack and associated structures.

Listing NGR: TQ6279697564