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11 Church Street
Number 11 Church Street is an early 18th century red brick house with alterations developed from an earlier lathe and plaster house. The black headers at the back indicate 17th century work. It has fine cast iron railings along the front and a disused burial ground now forms part of the garden.
Maurice Smith recorded the census of the parish organised by the vestry and taken on 27th February 1840 shows twelve residents belonging to the Quakers who at that time had a meeting house in Maldon Road. The graveyard that has been turned into a lovely garden and the stones which have been carefully moved to the side rest amid peaceful and beautiful surroundings. There still remains an inscribed stone sat in the brick wall of the garden which reads 'This Wall belongs to the Society of Friends. 1848'.
Pevsner & Bettley considers No. 11 as the most elegant house in the Chipping Hill area, c. 1720 with five bays, two storeys and attics, and a careful display of brickwork. The red brick is Flemish bond with burnt headers, below the ground-floor windows, then burnt headers laid in header bond with red brick dressings, and segmental arches of gauged brick over the windows.
Sources: Janet Gyford; Maurice Smith; Witham & Countryside Society; Nikollaus Pevsner & James Bettley (The Buildings of England - Essex).
