We can’t leave East Stockwell Street in the Dutch Quarter without having a look at Peake’s House, a remarkable Grade II Listed Building which is to be found on the west side of the street near its northern end. It is named after Mr Peake who was the last owner before he generously gave it to Colchester Borough Council in 1946, specifying that it was to be used for social and cultural purposes only. It is now leased by the Landmark Trust and can be hired as a holiday let so you can stay it when you visit our city.
However, its history goes back much further than that. It is part of a mid to late 14th century hall house, some of which was demolished in 1935, making it one of the oldest houses in Colchester. The hall was remodelled around 1550 as a three-storey house. This was then merged in the early 17th century to a separate two-storey building to its north which itself was built around 1500. A rear wing was added to it in the 17th century. As weaving was an important industry here at this time, it has big widows to let light in for the weavers to work by.
It is made from durable oak beams on rubble, stone, or brick foundations. The use of brick and the size of the building shows it was built by someone very wealthy as brick was expensive back then. It is known as a “half-timbered” building. This doesn’t mean that half of it was made of wood. Half-timbered buildings were made of logs were cut in two lengthwise, or at least cut down to a square inner section. These beams were cut to size at a woodyard. All the beams were then marked to make it easy to take to the building site and assemble. They were the first prefab buildings.
Peak House is a box framed building which was the more expensive sort. It also used close studding which means that lots of vertical beams were used close together which was also expensive. The timbers were often left unpainted to weather naturally, while the panels in between were painted with pigmented limewash. The blackening is a natural aging effect. Sometimes both the beams and panels were limewashed to protect against the weather.
In the 18th century when stucco and stone finishes became fashionable, many houses had their timbers plastered over. In the 19th and 20th centuries, many houses were restored and the timbers were exposed once again. The practice of painting the beams black and panels white, in part to emphasise the intricate patterns of the timber frame, became established. Recently fashions have changed again, and now some houses have had the paint removed from beams to reveal the natural colour of the weathered wood, while the panels are limewashed in soft earth tones. It is open to the public once a year on Heritage Weekend in September and is well worth a look inside.
If you would like to visit the Dutch Quarter to see the lovely old houses there and hear their histories, please join me on one of my Walking Tours.
