The Crown Public House

The Crown Public House is a timber-framed building, originally a house or inn, dating back to the 15th century. It has been altered in the 16th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The building is timber framed, with plaster cladding and some original and imitation exposed framing, and a roof of handmade red clay tiles. It has a 2-bay hall facing northwest with an 18th or 19th-century axial stack at the left end. An integral parlour or solar bay is located at the right end and was extended in the 19th or early 20th century to form a crosswing, featuring a 19th-century external stack. A further 3-bay crosswing extends to the left of the hall and has been extended to the rear by one bay, forming an irregular H-plan with a 19th-century external stack. 20th-century single-storey extensions have been added to the rear. The crosswings are two storeys high, while the hall is single-storey with attics. On the ground floor are two early 20th-century splayed bay windows with four lights, one similar sash window, and two 20th-century casement windows. The first floor has two 20th-century casement windows and two more in gabled dormers. There are three 20th-century doors set within flat-roofed porches. The left crosswing features an underbuilt jetty. Imitation framing is exposed on the upper storeys of both crosswings. The stack at the left end of the hall has been truncated below roof level and replaced a 16th-century inserted stack in the same position. Some original framing is visible inside. There are jowled posts and close studding. In the parlour/solar bay, there are diamond mortices for unglazed windows at the front and right end, and part of the original trimmed stair remains, featuring original joists of plain horizontal section, with later replacements. A mid-16th-century inserted floor is present in the hall, constructed with a chamfered axial beam and chamfered joists with step stops, complemented by 20th-century imitations at the left end. The cambered central tiebeam has deep arched braces, cut where they intrude below the inserted floor. The crownpost roof is largely complete, featuring an octagonal central crownpost with a moulded cap and base, and four-way bracing (three of which remain), all heavily smoke-blackened. The original roof is present over the solar, and has been re-roofed as a crosswing. Evidence suggests there were previously large hall windows at the front and back, now blocked. The left crosswing retains an original first-floor partition between the middle and rear bays, with exposed studding. Between the front and middle bays there are half-height jowls, a chamfered binding beam with plain stops, and a cambered tiebeam. This crosswing also features a crownpost roof with axial bracing.