Cornish Hall End · Finchingfield · North Essex
The Chase House
The Chase · Cornish Hall End · Braintree · Essex CM7 4JL
English countryside living — a completely remodelled four-bedroom home among the wheat fields and hedgerows, minutes from Finchingfield, "the most photographed village in England". The house is currently let.
In an emergency: call 999 (or 112) · NHS advice 111 · Police non-emergency 101
Welcome
A home in the English countryside
Cornish Hall End is a quiet hamlet strung along a country lane in the rolling farmland of north Essex — the view above is the real thing, wheat fields and hedgerows in every direction. The village pub, the Horse & Groom, the children's playground and the playing field are all a short stroll from the front door.
The house itself was remodelled top to bottom in 2024: a chef's kitchen, open-plan living and a study that doubles as a fourth bedroom downstairs; three bedrooms and the family bathroom with its laundry area upstairs; and a long lawned garden that ends where the fields begin. Finchingfield — newly crowned Essex's prettiest village, duck pond, windmill and all — is five minutes down the lane.
Satellite image above © Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics.
The House
Remodelled 2024, top to bottom
A detached family home rebuilt inside with contemporary finishes — bright, warm and simple to live in.
The lounge
A generous sitting room with a deep corner sofa, wall-mounted TV and recessed lighting, flowing into the dining space and kitchen beyond — one long, sociable room.
Chef's kitchen & diner
Gloss cabinetry, dark stone-look worktops and a full appliance suite — oven, hob, extractor, microwave and full-height fridge-freezer — with cottage windows looking onto the garden.
Four versatile bedrooms
Three carpeted bedrooms upstairs — two doubles and a single — plus a ground-floor study that works as a fourth bedroom, office or snug.
Modern bathrooms
A family bathroom with tub upstairs and a sleek walk-in shower room downstairs, both newly fitted. The family bathroom doubles as the laundry, with the washer and dryer beneath a Hollywood mirror.
Gardens front & rear
A long, fully fenced rear lawn with a stone patio for summer evenings — and nothing but farmland beyond the back fence. Lawned front garden and a smart brick-edged drive.
Garage & parking
A detached garage for secure parking or storage, plus off-street parking on the drive. The house is fully electric, with high-speed fibre broadband throughout.
Things to Do
Windmills, wheat fields, village greens
This is picture-postcard England — thatched villages, Norman castles and market towns, all threaded together by quiet lanes and footpaths.
The most photographed village
Finchingfield's green, duck pond and hump-backed bridge have graced a thousand calendars — and it's now been crowned Essex's prettiest village, beating Dedham and Thaxted to the title. Add the 18th-century post mill, the Guildhall and the hilltop church of St John the Baptist. More on the village at finchingfield.uk.
Footpaths from the door
Public footpaths strike straight out of the village into open farmland — big-sky walking through wheat fields and hedgerows, with circular routes to Finchingfield and the Bumpsteads.
Cycle the lanes
North Essex is superb cycling country: gently rolling, low-traffic lanes linking Finchingfield, Thaxted and the Sampfords — every ride ends at a village pub or tearoom.
Hedingham Castle
One of England's best-preserved Norman keeps, with a great banqueting hall, gardens and a summer calendar of jousts, falconry and open-air events. It opens on selected dates only (roughly mid-March to mid-October), so check before you go.
Thaxted
A medieval gem: the timbered Guildhall, a cathedral-scale parish church and morris dancers on the cobbles through the summer. John Webb's Windmill is closed for restoration, with reopening hoped for in spring 2028.
Audley End House & Gardens
A great Jacobean mansion in Capability Brown parkland — state rooms, stables and kitchen gardens. Across the road, the separately ticketed Audley End Enchanted Railway winds through the woods — the one the kids won't want to leave.
Boydells Dairy Farm
A small family farm where children can hold lambs and chicks, bottle-feed, pet llamas, donkeys and goats, milk a cow by hand and ride the tractor-drawn wagon. Open Friday–Sunday from April and daily in the Essex school holidays until 31 August; closed in winter, so check before you go.
Secret Nuclear Bunker
Follow the famously self-defeating road signs to a Cold War regional government HQ hidden beneath an ordinary bungalow — three underground floors of operations rooms, dormitories and sirens.
Within Walking Distance
Wellies on, out the door
Cornish Hall End is small and friendly — pub, playground, playing field and a lot of sky, all within a few minutes' stroll.
The Horse & Groom
Your village local, a couple of minutes up the lane — real ales, pub classics and a warm welcome. The kind of pub you move to the countryside for.
Children's playground
The village playground sits beside the playing field, a few minutes' stroll up the lane — swings, slide and climbing frame, with plenty of open grass for a kickabout.
Field-edge footpaths
Waymarked paths lead off the lane in every direction — an easy evening loop around the wheat fields, or longer rambles across the parish to Finchingfield and beyond.
Walk to Finchingfield
Three miles of lanes and field paths bring you down to Finchingfield's green for lunch — a classic out-and-back with a tearoom (or the Fox) in the middle.
Proper dark skies
No streetlight glow out here — on a clear night the Milky Way arches right over the garden. Bring a blanket and look up.
Countryside wildlife
Hares boxing in spring, skylarks over the wheat in summer, barn owls hunting the field margins at dusk — the back fence is a front-row seat.
Places to Eat
Pubs, tearooms & farm shops
Eating out here means village pubs with low beams and proper Sunday roasts — plus one very famous farm-shop café down the road.
The Horse & Groom
The village pub, steps from the house — hearty pub food, well-kept ales and a garden for summer evenings. Opening and kitchen times vary through the week, so check before you go, and book at weekends.
The Fox on the Green
A 16th-century coaching inn overlooking Finchingfield's green and duck pond — seasonal menus, roasts and rosé on the terrace with the best view in Essex.
The Finchingfield Lion
A 15th-century coaching inn just up the hill from the pond — heavy beams, an open fire, well-kept cask ales and very good pizzas, with a huge enclosed beer garden for summer.
Zafra
Italian-inspired cooking right on Finchingfield green — fresh pasta, pizza, grills and seafood from chef-proprietor Frank, in one of the prettiest settings in Essex. Book for weekends.
Tearooms on the green
Finchingfield does a proper cream tea — village tearooms serve scones, cakes and light lunches right on the green, perfect after a walk around the pond.
The Blue Egg
A destination farm shop and café between Great Bardfield and Braintree — breakfasts, home baking and light lunches at the Knead Food café, a children's play paddock, and artisan food and gifts to take home.
Thaxted's inns & cafés
Historic coaching inns and independent cafés among the medieval streets — lunch under centuries-old beams, then a stroll up to the windmill.
Saffron Walden dining
The market town has the area's widest choice — gastropubs, bistros, bakeries and world cuisines among the pargeted medieval buildings.
Country pubs keep country hours — book ahead for Sunday lunch, and check kitchen times before you set out.
Shopping
Markets & provisions
Cornish Hall End itself is blissfully shop-free — here's where to stock the kitchen and find something to take home.
Village essentials
Finchingfield's village stores and post office cover the basics — bread, milk, papers and local goods — right by the green.
The Blue Egg farm shop
Jams, chutneys, biscuits and store-cupboard treats, plus gifts and cards — with a farmers' market on the third Sunday of the month.
Saffron Walden market
A charter market since 1141 — stalls of produce, flowers, cheese and crafts fill the market square every Tuesday and Saturday morning.
The big shop
Full-size supermarkets — Tesco, Sainsbury's, Aldi and more — are fifteen minutes away in Haverhill or twenty in Braintree, with home delivery available to the village.
Braintree Village outlet
An outlet village of fashion and homeware brands at discount prices — a handy rainy-day outing with cafés on site.
Farm gates & galleries
Honesty boxes of eggs and honey along the lanes, and the annual May art show at Great Bardfield Town Hall — the village was home to the celebrated Bardfield artists.
Places to Go
Days out, near and far
The house sits in the quiet triangle between Cambridge, Colchester and London — famous cities, medieval wool towns and the coast are all within reach.
Great Bardfield
The artists' village — home to Edward Bawden, Eric Ravilious and the Bardfield group. A handsome high street, a cottage museum and the landmark Gibraltar Mill, a tower windmill now converted to a private home.
Thaxted
One of England's finest small towns — Guildhall, windmill, Holst's home, and a June–July music festival in the soaring parish church.
Castle Hedingham
A perfect Norman village beneath its mighty keep — lanes of pastel cottages, antique shops and the Colne Valley steam railway nearby.
Saffron Walden
A beautiful medieval market town: pargeted merchants' houses, the largest parish church in Essex, Bridge End Garden and England's largest turf maze.
Cambridge
Colleges, chapels and punting on the Cam — King's College Chapel, the Fitzwilliam Museum and the botanic garden make an unbeatable day out. Or park at Audley End and let the train do the city traffic.
Lavenham
Suffolk's crooked-timbered wool town — 300 listed buildings, the great Guildhall of Corpus Christi, and streets straight out of a storybook.
Colchester
Britain's oldest recorded town — a Norman castle on Roman foundations, the Dutch Quarter, and one of the country's best zoos.
London
Park at Audley End (30 min drive) or Braintree (20 min drive) and the train does the rest — Liverpool Street in about an hour either way. The West End for the day, the fields by dinner.
Stansted Airport
London Stansted is barely half an hour away — arrivals land practically on the doorstep, and Europe is a short hop for a night away.
Getting around: this is deep countryside, so a car is essential for most trips. Cornish Hall End has no regular bus. From Finchingfield, Central Connect's route 49 runs to Chelmsford via Great Bardfield and Broomfield Hospital, four times a day each way, Monday to Saturday. Essex County Council's DigiGo on-demand minibus covers Finchingfield and the Bardfields, with links to Braintree bus and railway stations (book through the Travel Essex app or on 0345 603 7633), and, since July 2026, villages to the north and east such as Steeple Bumpstead and Toppesfield (book on 03330 137 138). Both lines are open Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm. Cornish Hall End sits just outside both zones, so check your pick-up point first. The nearest railway stations are Braintree (≈20 min drive, London Liverpool Street ≈1 h) and Audley End (≈30 min drive, London ≈1 h · Cambridge ≈20 min).
Gallery
The house, room by room
Photographed after the 2024 remodel.
Floor Plan
How it all fits together
About 111.6 sq m / 1,202 sq ft across two floors — lounge, kitchen/diner, study and shower room down; three bedrooms and the family bathroom (with laundry) up.
Tap the plan to open it full size. Floor plan is for illustration only — measurements are approximate.
The Map
Everything, from here
The main places mentioned on this page, centred on The Chase House. Tap a marker for its name. Drag to move the map (two fingers on a phone or tablet) and pinch or use + / − to zoom.
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Marker positions are approximate — always check opening times and routes before you set out. For directions, open The Chase House in Google Maps.
Guest Access
Staying at The Chase House?
Useful information for anyone living at or visiting the house.
In an emergency
Call 999 (or 112) for police, fire or ambulance and give this address: The Chase, Cornish Hall End, Braintree, Essex CM7 4JL. NHS medical advice: 111. Police non-emergency: 101.
Laundry
The washer and dryer are in the upstairs family bathroom, beneath the Hollywood mirror.
Questions?
Use the contact form below.
Contact
Get in touch
The Chase House is currently let and we're not looking for new tenants. If you have a question about the house, send us a message and we'll get back to you.