Historic building monitoring and recording at Rye Cottage, Larks Lane, Little Waltham, Essex - March 2025

The aim of the building recording was to provide a detailed record and assessment of the buildings prior to demolition. The building recording was carried out to Level 3 (Historic England 2016) which is defined as: "Level 3 is an analytical record and will comprise an introductory description followed by a systematic account of the building's origins, development and use. The record will include an account of the evidence on which the analysis has been based, allowing the validity of the record to be re-examined in detail. It will also include all drawn and photographic records that may be required to illustrate the building's appearance and structure and to support an historical analysis. The information contained in the record will for the most part have been obtained through an examination of the building itself. The documentary sources used are likely to be those which are most readily accessible, such as historic Ordnance Survey maps, trade directories and other published sources. The record may contain some discussion the building's broader stylistic or historical context and importance. It may form part of a wider survey of a number of buildings which will aim at an overall synthesis, such as a thematic or regional publication, when the use of additional source material may be necessary as well as a broader historical and architectural discussion of the buildings as a group." In particular, the record considered: " Plan and form of the site. " Materials and method of construction. " Date(s) of the structures. " Original function and internal layout. " Fixtures and fittings. " Original and later phasing, additions and their effect on the internal/ external fabric and the level of survival of original fabric. " An account of the past and present uses of the buildings. Specific research questions to be explored by the monitoring are: " Is the timber-framing original to the building? Or is there evidence of re-use from an earlier structure? " Was the structure originally built as a single dwelling or multiple dwellings? " Are any scarf-joints visible and what form do they take? " Are any carpenter's marks, shipping marks etc visible on the timber-frame? " Is all the bracing in the framing through-bracing? The following are included in the report: " A documentary, cartographic and pictorial survey of the evidence pertaining to the history and evolution of the site. " A large-scale block plan of the site. " Annotated and phased floorplan of the buildings at a scale of 1:50. " A description of the buildings. The description addresses features such as materials, dimensions, method of construction and phasing. " A photographic record comprising digital photographs of both general shots and individual features. Selected examples of the photographic record are clearly tied into the drawn record and reproduced as fully annotated photographic plates supporting the text. The photographic record is accompanied by a photographic register detailing location and direction of shot (Appendix 1). A programme of historic building monitoring and recording was carried out by Colchester Archaeological Trust at Rye Cottage, Larks Lane, Great Waltham, Essex in March 2025. When first built, Rye Cottage was a three-bay timber-framed structure. Constructed sometime between 1839 and 1874, the timber-framing uses a mixture of hand-sawn and machine-cut wood, with the roof likely covered with thatch. The use of timber and thatch were both somewhat outdated techniques at the time of construction, suggestive of a low-status building. Originally constructed as three units, the eastern and western cottages would have been small one-up-one-down dwellings. The central bay is open to more interpretation; no evidence of a fireplace or chimney breast or access to the flanking bays was observed, perhaps suggesting the bay was intended for seasonal occupation or storage.