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Earlsmead & Brookcote
Along the south side of Chipping Hill is a turning called Earlsmead and a terrace of town houses, with a substantial 'Arts & Crafts' house set below road level.
Earlsmead was a large house, brick built with a front to the road, and the rear to lower ground behind. There was a bridge between the road and the front door of the house, and it was two storey at the front and three at the rear. At the back was a garage and works rooms on the ground floor. The town houses were built in the front garden, and the house demolished around 1970.
Brookcote was built in 1897 as a cottage, arts and crafts style, the builder hoped for five more next door, but the drains were inadequate. The designer was George Sherrin, a notable architect, who's work includes Spitalfields Market in London. In the Second World War it was a hostel for evacuee children, and then a day nursery at least until 1948. It is now a substantial private residence.
Below: A postcard view of the rear of the properties including the original Earlsmead.
Sources: Janet Gyford, Witham & Countryside Society.
