The 'Tudor House,' built about 1620 they say, was home to a Bocking Clothier. Weaving was the strength of Bocking economy. For many years this highway saw pilgrims pass through the hostelries prepared for them on their journey to Bury St Edmunds a trade that passed away after Henry VIII decided to run the English church his way. Flanders weavers moving into Essex developed their cloth trade, a trade that lasted well into the late 20th century. Clearly the builder of this house knew his business well! Renovated in 1974 it is once again a family home. However it also stands at a busy crossroad and suffers constant and heavy traffic outside the door. Made of hand cut oak timber and wattle and daub walls, a few locally made bricks used in creation of a chimney and tiles also made nearby, the building has stood the teats of time. The small ground floor windows would have used expensive glass while shutters would have been on upstairs windows.
A close up of the bressemer, the wooden beam supporting the jettied upper floor.
The end view has changed somewhat from a 1920 picture. Not only does the building lean forward much more it has also lost the brick chimney that rose up on the outside passing the window above. The door has been inserted since then also. I suspect the open hearth, where all cooking would have been done in medieval times, was the reason for the chimney stack here. Gas and electric cookers would enable a removal, and the dangerous lean might have demanded a removal of the chimney itself.
This period saw Henry VIII take the throne, the reformation, Henry dump the Catholic church so he could dump his women, burnings at stake, Elizabeth take over, and bales of cloth from here enable the town to do very well thank you. It was a truism that the Flanders weavers always told the truth. Buyers took to not inspecting the 'bays' when delivered because the weavers always gave what was promised, and of good quality!
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