13 And 15, Church Street

This is a house, originally a single building, now divided into two dwellings, dating from the mid-to-late 16th century. A small 19th-century outshut was added to the rear. The building is timber-framed, with plaster rendering and a plain tiled roof. A 17th-century red brick ridge stack is prominent, featuring clasping corner pilaster shafts with capitals and bases, and recesses between. It is likely that the original building extended further along the street, but a section was replaced during the 19th century.

The house is two storeys high. The first floor is jettied, and partly underbuilt. The original bressumer, supporting the first-floor joists, is in three lengths, with double bolection and hollow moulding where the joists are cogged into it. There are three first-floor windows, including a horizontal sliding sash and a nine-pane hung sash, all dating from the 19th century. On the ground floor, there are two horizontal sliding sash windows, a fixed light window with a single central glazing bar, possibly originally for a shop, and access to No. 15.

Inside, there are main beams with ogee and roll moulding, and inglenook hearths. At the intersection of the main beams is a boss carved with fruit, flowers and a shield bearing a cross of St George. Other visible features include cambered tie beams, jowled post heads, a wind-braced side purlin roof, and stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops.

Historical records suggest that this may have been the Guildhall, referenced in documents before its dissolution around 1530.