17 And 19, High Street

Nos. 17 and 19 High Street is a house that has also served as a shop, now functioning solely as a shop. It is reputed to date from the 12th century, but is likely from the 13th or 14th century, with remodeling occurring in the early 19th century. The building is timber framed and constructed using cruck techniques, with a façade that has been refaced and the eaves raised in rendered coursed rubble, topped by a slate roof. Originally a hall house, it likely consists of three or four framed bays.

The left side features an integral brick and stone end stack. The front has four windows, with first-floor glazing bar sashes and two ground-floor plate-glass shop windows to the left, flanking a six-panelled door (the top four panels are glazed) that has a reeded architrave and a mid-to-late 19th-century gabled wooden porch. To the right is a mid-to-late 19th-century shop front with two plate-glass shop windows beside a 20th-century glazed door, which has a rectangular overlight and a panelled-pilastered surround supporting a fascia and cornice. There is also a boarded door at the far right.

Inside, the former hall house plan is still evident, with a left-hand door leading to a former through-passage and a surviving chamfered-lintel doorway to the former service end, which has a basement beneath. Two full cruck trusses remain, with the large former open hall truss visible on the first floor, featuring a continuous chamfer to the blade, arch-braces, and a collar with V-struts above. The apex type is Alcock, and there is significant smoke blackening. A large later-inserted stack in the second bay from the east was removed in the late 1970s when the crucks were uncovered. Despite its unassuming exterior, this building is classified as Grade II* due to its early and relatively complete structure.