Archaeological building recording at Tubbeswick, Mill Road, Mile End, Colchester, Essex – May 2011

Tubbeswick is a Grade II listed building dating to c 1752 which replaced an earlier structure that may have dated to the early medieval period. It is situated on a 0.35-hectare plot of land on the south side of Mill Road (centred at NGR TL 599145 227700). The building was listed for its special architectural and historic interest on 14th December 2001. The property and attached land have had connections with several significant historical figures, important both nationally and to Colchester in particular. The author Daniel Defoe leased the property in 1722 and it was subsequently rebuilt and occupied by his daughter. A fire during renovations in 2009 caused substantial structural damage, severe enough that the local planning authority gave consent for its demolition. As a condition attached to this consent, a building recording survey was requested by Colchester Borough Council.