The Red House, School Road, Messing, Essex. CO5 9TH. - Unique Chimneys and Chimney Pots on Waymarking.com

Set in six acres of established grounds and gardens this country house was built in 1880 and originally called St Albans Lodge, later it was called Acorn Close. Various families have lived there including a Major Blackett, the Houghton family, the Rodwell family and a family called Waters. Acquired by Essex County Council it was used as a school for children in care, but now called The Red House it is used as a work training centre for adults with learning disabilities.

When the Houghtons lived there they had residential staff of a housekeeper/cook, nursemaid and housemaid, and nonresidential gardener and chauffeur. Nowadays it is staffed by four full time and four part time staff. They currently train twenty five members per day with forty six adults attending the centre weekly. The centre trains people in independence and vocational skills, progressing them into paid work in the community.

There are six stacks on the house with a total of twenty-one flues, quite a job for the housemaid to maintain all these fires, all but two of them are now capped with ventilation cowls. The stacks are all to the same design but of different heights depending on where they rise. The tallest rises from the right-rear of the property and is some 5m from the gutter-line to its apex. It has four flues and carries the only two flues not capped off. The shortest stacks arise from the roof of the south wing and are only about 2m tall.

The basic shape is a square 2½ bricks per side then increased depending on the number of flues. This is then decorated with vertical rows of brick end-on springing from brick corbels for the full height up to an inverted six tier coving. The pots all have a decorative band of foliage placed about ¾ of the way up. The cowls are of the type which are simply socketed into the pot and held there by their weight. All look to be in good condition.

Private or Public Property?: Private What material is it made from?: Red brick When was it made?: 01/01/1880 Estimated Height of chimney (please include whether metres or feet): 2m to 5m Type of building e.g. house, hotel etc: House, now a training centre. How do you rate it?: Website with further information: [Web Link]

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