14, 15 and 16 Church Street

In common with many of the oldest buildings still standing in Harwich what we see at 14, 15 and 16 Church Street is a grand medieval building that has undergone later adaptation and reconfiguration.

In fact three main phases of development have seen the structure morph from a medieval hall house with cross wings to the two residences we see today.

The first medieval phase is still present in parts of the oak frame but difficult to see and we don’t have an accurate date for it. The original house was built in the close studded style of the area with wattle and daub infill. The open hall would have been central and flanked by two gabled cross wings – a style found again and again in Harwich.

In the early 17th century a major upgrade saw the addition of brick cellars, a rear timber-framed extension and a floor insertion and roof raise to install a high status chamber above the hall. The frontage was unified at this time with the former hall being levelled up with the cross wings and the new first floor chamber, which spanned part of the hall and parlour cross wing, was finished off with a moulded plaster ceiling. This work was bringing an outdated but not terribly old building up to date and possibly reflected a merchant family wanting to show off their wealth.

The next development work occurs in the early 19th century when the property was extended again to infill the “L” shaped rear extension and subdivide the property. Winder stairs provide access between floors and room reconfiguration means that the grand chamber is split in two.

In early photographs and postcards we see the property is used as shops in the late 19th century but it seems that the building has always had a commerce function and rare surviving tenterhooks in the cellars point to some manufacturing process taking place in the building in the 17th century.

The property is an excellent example of an ancient property where phased development has taken place – following developing architectural styles and the demands and needs of the population.

Whilst we cannot find anyone associated with the first phase on the building we have a candidate for the 17th century modifications thanks to a preserved, repurposed bressumer beam now located internally in one of the houses. This beam bears the date 1606 and the initials “T”, “E” and “S” and the theory is that this represents Thomas and Elizabeth Shrive.

This assumes that the beam was originally located at the front of the house at the point when the old hall was “brought forward” to level the frontage. Carved bressumers were a very popular adornment for high status houses at the time and can be found elsewhere in Harwich on properties of similar age.

Thomas Shrive was a powerful man in Harwich in 1606, becoming a deputy under the Charter of Edward Coke in 1600 and then mayor in 1612 and 1623 under the new Harwich Royal Charter of 1604.

Our next touchpoint is the 19th century when we find a variety of shopkeepers and residents at 14, 15 and 16 Church Street.

In the early 1860s Montague Jacobs carried on business as a watch and clock maker and tobacconist at No. 14 but was adjudged bankrupt in 1865.

In the early 1870s John Carrington was to be found variously at No. 15 and No. 16, seeming to be a shopkeeper as well as a master mariner, but by 1874 the Post Office Directory lists “John Carrington, shopkeeper and master mariner” at No. 15 and “John Calver, fishmonger” at No. 16.

In the 1920s Sidney James Sheppard kept a shop at No. 15 selling game and fish.

In 1934 there was a fire at No. 16 and we find that the shop is owned by a Mr. Warren and the living accommodation is let to the Bacon family.

14, 15 and 16 Church Street were surveyed and interpreted as part of the Harwich Architectural Survey Project which was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

An interpretation of the building by Brenda and Elphin Watkin is available for download here.