4. ALRESFORD. (E.d.)
(O.S. 6 in. xxxvii. N.E.)
Alresford is a parish on the left bank of the
Colne estuary and 5 m. S.E. of Colchester.
Roman
(1) Dwelling House, of corridor type with
detached building, possibly bath-block, on W.,
in a field now called "Eight acre or Near-ford field,"
and 300 yards S.E. of Alresford Lodge Farm. It
was excavated in 1885 (Essex Arch. Soc. Trans.,
N.S., III, pp. 136–9; Essex Note Book, Dec., 1884,
1.34, 38, 64, 88, 124; Proc. Soc. Antiq., X, 178),
(see also Sectional Preface, p. xxvii), but nothing is
now visible on the site except loose fragments of
brick and some tesserae. The corridor was 162½ ft.
long by 10 ft. wide, turning S. at right angles at each
end. The plan was indicated by the tessellated and
other pavements only, all the walls having been
removed. The associated finds included coins of
Commodus and Faustina and some 'Samian'
potsherds. Some fragments of painted plaster from
the walls, one with a few letters in graffiti, and
pottery are now preserved in the Colchester
Museum.
Ecclesiastical
(2). Parish Church of St. Peter stands near
the middle of the parish. The walls are probably
of rubble, but are covered with cement; the
dressings are of limestone and the roofs are tiled.
According to Morant, referring to an inscription to
Anfrid de Staunton, the church was built or rebuilt
early in the 14th century, and this is probably the
date of most of the structure, but the Roman
brick quoins of the N.W. angle of the Nave are
of the 12th-century, and the corresponding quoins
of the S.W. angle have been recently exposed,
showing that the 12th-century building was 21¾ ft.
wide externally. The church was drastically
restored in the 19th century, when the Chancel
appears to have been partly rebuilt, the South
Vestry, South Aisle and North Porch added, and
the bell-turret rebuilt.
The Church, Plan
Architectural Description—The Chancel (22 ft.
by 16 ft.) has no ancient features, except a triangular headed opening in the E. gable and part
of the jambs and head of the window in the S. wall,
which are of c. 1300.
The Nave (39 ft. by 21 ft.) has in the N. wall
two modern windows and further W. a late 14th-century N. doorway with re-cut moulded jambs
and two-centred arch. The S. arcade is modern,
and in the W. wall is a modern window.
The South Aisle is modern, but reset in the
S. wall are two early 14th-century windows of two
plain lights, with a spandrel in a two-centred
head; the mullion of the western window is
modern; the modern S. doorway has reset splays
and rear-arch of the 14th century.
The Roof of the nave has one old tie-beam and
a moulded N. wall-plate, probably of the 14th
century.
Fittings—Indent: In chancel—of marginal inscription, slab mostly covered by choir-stalls
Monument: In churchyard—S. side, to Sarah
(Sparhawk), wife of Samuel Bridg, 1680, table-tomb of brick with stone slab.
Condition—Good, much altered.
Secular
(3). Brook Farm, house, about ¾ m. E.N.E. of
the church, is of two storeys, timber-framed and
plastered; the roofs are tiled. It was built late
in the 15th or early in the 16th century, with a
central hall and cross-wings at the N. and S. ends.
There is a 17th-century addition on the N. side.
Inside the building is some exposed timberframing and an original doorway with a four-centred head. The roof has original cambered
tie-beams.
Condition—Good, much altered.