The Eagles Inn

The Eagles Inn

This public house originated in the late 16th or early 17th century as a dwelling, and has been substantially extended and altered during the 19th and 20th centuries.

The early part of the building is timber-framed with lath and plaster infill and brick nogging. The elevations are rendered, with tile hanging applied to the roadside front. The later extensions are largely brick with some render. All roofs are tiled with brick chimneystacks.

The building stands on the east side of Harley Road at the centre of the village, with an irregular plan. The original timber-framed ranges comprise a northern pitched range running parallel with the road and an intersecting cross-wing to the south. A lower pitched southern range adjoins to the south, and the principal rear ranges and rear outshuts date from the early to mid-19th century, with most in place by 1883.

The west elevation facing the road is rendered on the ground floor with tile-hanging above. A doorway occupies the ground floor of the northern range with a large dormer above. The building line steps forward with the gable end of the cross-wing, which is the earliest part of the structure. Windows are later replacements in irregular openings. The return elevation of the northern range is a rendered gable end with irregular openings and an internal stack. Other elevations are largely enveloped by later extensions.

South of the cross-wing is a lower, mid-19th century two-storey extension with a 20th century outshut on the rear east-facing elevation. A wide chimneystack stands at the junction. The upper storey is tile-hung on the west side and rendered elsewhere. Projecting from the main range to the rear is a two-storey extension with a pitched roof, built from red brick in Flemish garden wall bond with pale headers. Windows sit in cambered openings with rough brick arches. A wide internal stack occupies the east gable. Various other small outshuts and extensions are present.

Interior

The general form of the two original ranges remains legible, though partitioning within the northern range and extensions to the south and east create a rambling internal plan.

The western cell of the cross-wing was probably the principal room. The floor frame survives well with a deep cross beam and an intersecting axial beam on the east. These beams are carefully detailed with wide chamfers with stepped lamb's tongue stops, indicating a late 16th or early 17th century date. The east end of the axial beam, very close to the building's end, contains housing for a partition with chamfer stops on either side, suggesting the beam has been truncated and originally extended further east. Most joists with chamfers and run-out stops survive. The cross-wing contains a partition and steps up to the eastern half of the building range, where an open-well stair and small side room occupy the original footprint. Stepped jowled corner posts of the original rear wall are visible within the side room, encased in plaster. Further timber framing is visible from the cellar stair. The heavy construction of the stair framework suggests an early date, while the simple stick balustrade with square newels likely dates from the 19th century. In the northern range ground floor, three deep axial beams and joists support the upper floor.

On the first floor, timber framing of the northern range and cross-wing is more apparent. In the cross-wing, the central partition illustrates the construction with two bays of box framing for the walls and Queen post roof trusses with a single tier of purlins. The roof is ceiled at collar level; within the void above, the principal trusses are pegged with raking struts from the collars, coupled rafters, and a thick ridge piece. In the northern wing, box framing is exposed in the north-east room and likely encased elsewhere. Wide floorboards survive, in some places overlaid with later boarding. Several historic doors remain: some ledge and plank construction, others 19th century four-panel. Historic fireplaces do not survive, though chimneybreasts indicate their locations.

A cellar is accessed by a narrow stair descending adjacent to the timber-framed rear wall of the cross-wing. A small room occupies approximately the south-east quarter of the original cross-wing footprint. A second room added to the east has a vaulted brick roof and a narrow ramped barrel chute.

Within the southern extension, the ground floor 'snug' contains a broad spine beam. The room above has curved and chamfered cruck-like principal rafters, with roughly hewn purlins above, suggesting they once enclosed a loft void. The kitchen within the eastern extension has a deep chimneybreast.