A TUDOR HOUSE

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 140, 14 June 1924, Page 16

A TUDOR HOUSE

BRITISH LABOUR. MINISTER'S GIFT^O THE NATION. '

To the list of interesting and historic buUdingsJllb.aaded ..over to, the National Trusb^ha» jnaWbeen added Paycocke's House■".at^Coggeshall, • iu\Essex, the, gift of Mr. Noel Buxton, M.P., Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, states the 'illustrated London News." It is a remarkably- complete and ornate example ot' iomestic architecture in Tudor times, having been built for a well-to-do merchant, Thomas Bayeocke, about the year ISCO, in - the latter, .part of the reign of Henry VII. ; ; >Late in the. sixteenth century the house passed, by'marriage, . into the BuxtoiuJanrily. of. Colchester, and was sold by Charles. Buxton Jn 1736. After that it suffered some maltreatment-, and ,in 1892 ; -\vas threatened' ivitK'.r,3emolition. Mr.-- Noel- Buxton ■' bought: it back in ISOS, and.has,had it carefully restored in the'old ■ style, .and put-iuto;*-,thorpugh repair. '■ It is v recorded tEaf.: biib".John Paycocke, who diedjin 1 to his youngest * . son^^-Ehomas,^ • •' 'my house lying and .bSyecf^iuK.the West Strete 'of. Cogfe|KnlU:#afi:the Vicarage."' Thomas •was 'a'"-mgrchaiit-elothiei;, an inausti-y ■'of which Cog'geshall. was in those days an important centre, and it is believed that part "of" the back of the house was iised for"-weaving. ■ Thomas Paycocke's merchant, mark, an ermine's;tail, occurs frequently aihpiig .the' carvings both inside .-and . outside ■ the building.. "At Paycocike's .house," writes l\h: '"■ H. Avray Tipping, "we find a combination of sound timber construction, rich, and fanciful decorative design, arid master-ly-craftsmanship,, well representing.the nativ^e^ Gothic, spirit, untouched. by > the Renaissance:" " '■ ''"•'-■'

Describing detail of the ■ exterior decoration, Mr'.., 11. Avray Tipping* writes, i;i "Country--Life" : "The front (of tiie house) is 55 feefc long'and the entire? length of the '.bressumer that supports "tge "overhanging upper story is carved --with -a- 'waved stum, out of which?"spring leaves and flowers, intersperse;! with an enticing medley of sculptured fancies. Beginning at' tho east, end, we see a fierce dragon, and a ]ittie'further on two twigs develop into theVproslrate upper halves.. of a king" i!.ndv:(jueeii clasping each other by the Jiaiitljj and perhaps . symbolising tho end of monastic strife by the -marriage of lleji.ry Tudor with Elizabeth of York.

. isiki Equal r to the bressumer, as early" TuilOr craftsWaiiship, is the great archedAvaJPF"' with double doors of linenfold panels. . . ■. The massive, side-posts (. '?,%' carry.figures described as a fool with' Jan ass-eared cap and a, baton, from which the- -bladders have disappeared, and^a mummer with a shield."