Copford Place blaze recorded as delibrate, fire service says

Four crews from Colchester, Coggeshall and Tiptree were called to Copford Place, in London Road, Copford, at 8.45pm yesterday evening.

The building, which was covered with scaffolding, is on the buildings at risk register.

The timber-framed house was built in the 18th century and previously a home for distressed women in the 1950s.

It was also the final home of Essex painter Tirzah Garwood who died of cancer in 1951.

It was more lately used as a care home before it was shut and the site fell into disrepair.

Due to the building being unstable firefighters worked from outside to put the fire out.

The fire was out by midnight, but relief crews remained at the scene overnight to monitor hotspots.

Scene - crews worked for hours to tackle the fire (Image: Submitted) Crew Manager Pete Woodiwiss said: “Crews worked incredibly hard in challenging conditions.

“Access to the site was difficult, and water supply issues added to the complexity of the incident.

Despite this, firefighters were able to bring the fire under control and extinguish it within a few hours.”

The fire service has since recorded the fire as "deliberate".

It comes just weeks before plans for the new site were due to be discussed.

The building was subject to a planning bid with developers wanting to turn it into eight flats.

The bid, which was due to be decided on by Colchester Council by the end of the month, also proposed turning the stables into a house and creating 28 homes in the grounds.