Building record HGM 030 - The Old Post Office, Upper Street

The former Post Office in Higham is a grade II-listed timber-framed and rendered structure that was built as a single domestic house of modest scale and status in the middle decades of the 17th century. It reflects the standard layout of its period, with a central hall flanked by a pair of service rooms on the left and parlour to the right, but is of special historic interest for two reasons: it illustrates a key period of transition in English carpentry, combining trenched and primary wall braces in a manner rarely seen elsewhere, and was painted almost exactly as it remains today by John constable in circa 1804. The house appears to have contained a single fireplace initially but the chimney between its hall and parlour was rebuilt in the 18th century to accommodate a second fireplace on the first floor. The lean-to shop which projects from the front wall was probably added at the same time, along with the ceilings on the upper storey that had previously been open to the roof. The property belonged to John Dawson in the early-19th century, along with Higham Lodge and Green Farm to the south (now Higham Place), but was occupied by one Isaac Bush who was recorded as a shopkeeper in 1815. The inserted ceiling in the parlour chamber was removed and replaced by a higher ceiling as part of an extensive restoration in the late-20th century and the lath-and-plaster of its counterpart in the hall chamber recently collapsed as the result of a water leak. The remaining joists consist of roughly hewn pine and are not of historic significance (S1).