The Crown House

The Crown House, formerly The Crown Coaching Inn, likely dates to the 16th or early 17th century, with subsequent alterations in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is constructed of red brick, painted on the street facade, with exposed and plastered timber-framing. The building has hipped plain tile roofs and two ridge stacks to the left and one to the right. It is two storeys high with attics and cellars, forming a U-plan with rear wings that enclose a courtyard. Evidence suggests there were galleries to the south and east, a carriageway to the north, which is contemporary with the north range, and the south and west ranges were built in the late 17th century.

The street elevation features a plastered plinth and a double brick band between the floors. It has two first-floor and one ground-floor blind windows, five recessed twelve-paned sash windows on the first floor, and four similar ground-floor windows. The entrance to the left is accessed by stone and brick steps leading to a six-panelled door, with panelled reveals and a canopy supported by shaped brackets. The carriageway retains an early 17th-century carved four-centred arch, with a half-glazed door to the right. The rear elevation displays an enclosed gallery to the east and a partly demolished and enclosed gallery to the south; three wooden pillars from the southern gallery remain.

The interior includes red brick corner hearths with elliptical brick arches, one with a mantel beam, in the south and rear ranges. A large inglenook hearth is present in the north range. A wall painting in a panelled design is found in a first-floor room. A 17th-century door with cockshead hinges survives, along with a short, original attic stair with flat balusters. The Crown Inn served as the collecting Post Office for north Cambridgeshire by the late 18th century and was used as a Magistrates Court until 1839, ceasing to operate as an inn around 1860.