Efforts to repair and restore a historic Grade II* listed building in Burnham-on-Crouch have been recognised with a top conservation award.

Creeksea Place, on Ferry Road, won the Building Conservation Award as part of the 38th Maldon District Conservation Design and Award Scheme.

Presenting the awards, Councillor Richard Siddall, chairman of the judging panel, said "the judges were extremely impressed" by the transformation of the building - "one of the most important Elizabethan houses in this part of Essex".

He added: "The oldest part of the house has gone from a sad and neglected monument to a mansion which now has hope of becoming, once again, something truly special."

The building was built in the late 1560s, partially demolished in the 18th century and then restored and extended in the early 20th century.

It suffered a long period of neglect after being requisitioned by the army during World War II, and was added to the Register of Heritage at Risk in 1993.

Last year, however, Historic England offered a major grant to allow urgent repairs to be made to the original wing of the building.

Works undertaken included rebuilding parts of the ornate chimney stacks and conserving an original lead rainwater hopper which dates to 1569.

Following a further grant from Historic England, additional repairs were made to the original wing - this work included repairing and restoring all the iron and leaded light windows, major structural repairs to the internal floors and restoring the historic oak panelling which lines one of the main bed chambers.

Councillor Siddall added: "Architectural investigation and recording of the building before and during the repair work shed light on the building's original design and subsequent evolution."

The lead consultation for the project was The Morton Partnership, while the conservation architect was Chris Betts Architecture and the main contractor was Universal Stone, with carpentry repairs by Rick Fullman and leadwork repairs by Traditional Leadwork & Roofing Ltd.

The quantity surveyor was Sawyer Fisher, the heritage consultant was Jonathan Clark from Field Archaeology Specialists, the window repair specialist was Lincolnshire Glass, the lime plastering was by Gower Bros Ltd and the panelling was restored by Joseph Bispham.

Other sites in Burnham and the Dengie that were recognised during the ceremony were 3 Black Lion Cottages in Althorne and Goose House in Woodham Mortimer.

3 Black Lion Cottages is an early 19th-century home which was refurbished by neighbour Chris Green and his business partner David Bowdler through their company Square-Edge Solutions Ltd.

The men formed a partnership with their investor and architect Anthony Stokes Judd along with associate architect Stefan Golc, and were highly commended by judges for leading "a great example of a Georgian cottage being refurbished to the standard it deserves".

Goose House won the award for the design of a new house, and judges called the collaboration between the client and the architect, Annabel Brown, a demonstration of "architects at their best".

Accepting the award, Annabel said: "There were lots of other people that helped along the way.

"I'm incredibly grateful that we got this."

Councillor Siddall said: "The calibre of this year's winners was particularly high."

He said judging the entries had reminded him that "Maldon is a fantastic district and how lucky we are to call it home".