Jamie Oliver wants to repair a 600-year-old bridge over an ancient MOAT around his £6million Essex country mansion
- Wants to restore 15th century red brick bridge around Spains Hall in Essex
- Plans show Jamie wants to have the brickwork re-pointed on the bridge
- He also wants to replace all the modern terracotta drainage spouts
TV chef Jamie Oliver has applied for permission to repair a 600-year-old bridge over an ancient moat around his £6million country mansion in Essex.
The celebrity cook wants to restore the 15th century red brick bridge, which once spanned a water-filled moat around his mansion, Spains Hall.
Plans lodged with Braintree District Council show Jamie wants to have the brickwork re-pointed on the bridge, which was built in the Middle Ages around the original timber-framed house.
He also wants to replace all the modern terracotta drainage spouts with purpose-built lead spouts so the bridge can be restored to its former glory.
The chef has also applied to re-instate and extend a former estate road connecting to the Moat bridge, which would give him a second route through the grounds to his home.
TV chef Jamie Oliver has applied for permission to repair a 600-year-old bridge over an ancient moat around his £6million country mansion in Essex
The celebrity cook wants to restore the 15th century red brick bridge, which once spanned a water-filled moat around his mansion, Spains Hall
A heritage statement by Stephen Gray Consultancy said the moat, which is now dry, would have been a prominent feature of the house in the 15th Century and has ‘substantial architectural significance.’
It said: ‘The moat is now dry and partly levelled but the bridge reinforces its tangibility. The moat was in all likelihood a feature of the 15th C first phase of the existing building and would have remained a prominent feature of the late 16th C phase of building development that is the primary significance of the Hall.
‘The aesthetic significance of the bridge is partially diminished by earlier poor quality repairs but remains substantial as a link between the house and the less formal working landscape of the west side of the estate.
Plans lodged with Braintree District Council show Jamie wants to have the brickwork re-pointed on the bridge, which was built in the Middle Ages around the original timber-framed house
He also wants to replace all the modern terracotta drainage spouts with purpose-built lead spouts so the bridge can be restored to its former glory
The chef has also applied to re-instate and extend a former estate road connecting to the Moat bridge, which would give him a second route through the grounds to his home
‘The Moat bridge also has substantial architectural significance, as a later part of the architectural composition of the side elevation, its more modest character counterpointing the principal elevation of the ‘prodigy house’.
‘The aesthetic significance of the bridge is partially diminished by earlier poor quality repairs but remains substantial as a link between the house and the less formal working landscape of the west side of the estate.’
It said the new gravelled pathway would have ‘historic significance’ in reinstating a secondary access route in the estate.
It added: ‘Reinstating a functional route from the Hall’s Moat entrance would contribute to that historic significance.’
The TV chef bought the mansion on the 70-acre estate at the start of 2019 and had building work done on the house before he moved in, including the restoration of many original features
The house had only been used by three families and hadn’t been sold for 250 years when Jamie bought it
The TV chef bought the mansion on the 70-acre estate at the start of 2019 and had building work done on the house before he moved in, including the restoration of many original features.
The house had only been used by three families and hadn’t been sold for 250 years when Jamie bought it.
The manor house boasts 12 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a large games room, great hall, dining room, two drawing rooms and a wine storage area.
Original features include a well on the ground floor, a priest hole on the first floor and a two-storey red-brick Tudor gazebo in the gardens, which is named The Prayer house.
The property also comes with an outdoor swimming pool, tennis courts and fishing lakes.