Cl7-C18 timber-framed and plastered building. Renovated. One storey and attics. Small casement windows (C20). Roof thatched, half hipped. The interior has exposed timber-framing and an original fireplace.
The name Ansgar, echoed also in Ansgar Road, Saffron Walden, is of ancient origin. According to the Uttlesford history website
Walden was held before the Conquest by Ansgar, a manor of about 2,200 acres. Ansgar was a powerful and wealthy man, the king’s standard-bearer, who owned land throughout Essex. When he died, his Essex lands were given to Geoffrey de Mandeville, first constable of the Tower of London. His grandson, also called Geoffrey, transformed the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Waldena into the nucleus of the modern town, building the castle on Bury Hill at some time between 1125 and 1141 and founding the Priory of St James, later the Abbey of Walden, in about 1139.
However, Hempstead’s own Domesday entry makes no reference to Ansgar, so the direct origin (and indeed the date) of this house name is unclear.
