The Shakespeare Hotel

The Shakespeare Hotel comprises three buildings of different dates, now combined to form a hotel. The section to the left, known as Four Gables, has a core of 16th-century timber-frame construction, although the front was rebuilt in the 1920s. The central section, Five Gables, dates from the early 16th century. The building on the right, number 19, was built around 1720 and altered in the 20th century.

The buildings are timber-framed with plaster infill, resting on a rubble plinth, and have tile roofs with brick stacks. Number 19 is predominantly brick with buff headers on a rubble plinth, with slate to the front roof and tile to the rear. The main block is two storeys with an attic, featuring a 4+5+2 window front. The windows are ovolo-mullioned with leaded glazing. Four Gables has a recessed left half, with a jettied attic and two gables. This section also features two two-storey canted bay windows with 1:4:1 mullioned and transomed windows, along with similar three-light attic windows. A Tudor-headed entrance, with a pentice and a 20th-century door, is located to the right of the centre. A canted bay window to the right end has a hipped roof, above which sits a three-light transomed window and four gabled dormers. A rubble lateral stack has brick diagonal shafts, and an end stack is also present. The facade displays storey-height posts with middle rails; a 1920 foundation stone is located to the left of the entrance. Five Gables has a jettied first floor and attic, with five gables. An entrance is situated to the left of the centre, featuring a wide-boarded studded door. A two-light window is at the left end, and a 1:3:1-light transomed canted bay window is to the left of the entrance. To the right are three four-light transomed bay windows. The first floor has three-light transomed windows and smaller two- and three-light windows under the upper jetty, creating a continuous glazing pattern. Three-light windows illuminate the attic. Close studding is visible. Number 19 is three storeys and includes 20th-century windows and an entrance; the latter features paired doors beneath a canted oriel with a hipped roof to the right of a ground-floor six-light window and a first-floor four-light window. The second floor features four-light windows. The rear of the buildings features gabled wings and various 19th- and 20th-century additions, and one cross-axial stack has diagonal shafts.

The interior features exposed chamfered beams and timber-framing; some ground-floor interior walls have been removed, and some fireplaces have been altered. The overall frontage spans approximately 40 metres. Four Gables operated as the Shakespeare Inn from 1788, Five Gables became part of the Shakespeare Hotel in the 1880s, and number 19 was incorporated in the 20th century.