The Old House

The Old House is a Grade I listed shop and dwelling, now functioning as a museum, dating from around 1621. It features a post-and-pan timber-frame structure with plaster, topped by a plain tile roof that has three gables. The building stands three storeys high, with an attic and cellar, and has a three-window range. Notable architectural elements include 12-light, canted mullion and transom oriels supported by figurehead consoles, a moulded bressumer, and smaller oriels above. The gables display quarter-braced panels with mullion lights and enriched barge boards.

The entrance is located to the center right and features a porch with a studded plank door set in a 4-centred arch, adorned with carved spandrels and a moulded case. The porch is enhanced with enriched barge boards and pendants on figurehead brackets, flanked by mullion and transom oriels. To the left, there is a 10-light bay window under a pentice roof, supported by moulded posts. The returned sides of the building also have enriched gables over the mullion and transom oriels, with additional oriels and decorative features at the rear.

Inside, the first floor boasts a 17th-century staircase leading to the second floor, featuring barley sugar twist balusters and a moulded rail and string, with early 19th-century balusters from the first to the second floor. The second floor includes a plank door with decorated strap hinges, exposed timbers, a firegrate, a fireback, and a bolection moulded fireplace. The first floor showcases panelling and a stone fireplace with a 4-centred arch and carved overmantel. The ground floor has a stone fireplace with a timber lintel and a plasterwork ceiling. The Old House was formerly part of Butcher's Row and is a remarkable survival of its time.