26-30, HIGH STREET

A house, now a shop and two houses, dating from the 15th century, with alterations in the late 16th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The structure is timber-framed, with plaster infill and a roof of handmade red plain tiles. The original design included a two-bay hall facing northwest, featuring a late 16th-century stack in the right bay against the front wall. To the right of the hall is a three-bay crosswing extending to the rear, alongside a 20th-century single-storey lean-to extension and a 20th-century stack. A further three-bay crosswing exists to the left, also extending to the rear, with a 19th-century external stack to the left and a 17th-century external stack at the rear, partially screened by an 18th/19th-century one-bay extension.

The building has two storeys and a cellar. The ground floor includes a 20th-century double-bayed shopfront under the jetty of the left crosswing, with a central glazed door, and one 19th-century and two 20th-century casement windows. The first floor features one 19th-century sash window with four lights, two 19th-century casements, and one 20th-century casement. A four-panel door with a moulded flat canopy is found at number 28, while a 20th-century door is located in the right return at number 26.

The left crosswing retains plain joists of a horizontal section, an original staircase within the stair trap, and an early 17th-century wood-burning hearth with a chamfered mantel beam featuring lamb's tongue stops, which has been reduced in width. It also has jowled posts and a complete crownpost roof with axial bracing. A blocked, early-glazed window with two saddle bars and a mutilated original mullion is located in the rear bay of the right crosswing. Original rebated hardwood floorboards remain.

The hall contains a wood-burning hearth with a 20th-century arch, as well as an early 16th-century inserted floor, 2.59 metres high, consisting of an axial beam, bridging beams jointed into it, and longitudinal joists supported on pegged clamps, all richly moulded with converging stops. The central crossing displays geometrical chip carving in the form of four roundels and a six-petalled flower, a rare and significant feature. Original rebated hardwood floorboards are present. The hall's roof has been raised approximately one metre.

Part of the high end of the right crosswing is incorporated into number 26. Features of note include the transom of an unglazed window in the rear wall of the hall, a parlour doorway 2.28 metres high with a four-centred doorhead, and an original draught screen of V-edged vertical boards set in square grooves offering a rare survival. The right crosswing comprises two long bays and one short bay, including an underbuilt jetty at the front and a blocked unglazed window at the rear. It has a cambered tiebeam and likely retains the original roof, although access is difficult. A wood-burning hearth has been reduced to accommodate a 20th-century grate.