79 and 81, High Street

This is a house dating back to the 15th century, with significant alterations in the 16th and 18th centuries. It appears to have undergone at least two phases of building. The house is timber-framed, with plaster rendering and a roof of handmade red clay tiles. Originally, the left-hand crosswing was jettied and gabled to the street but it was later underbuilt and now projects from the roof of the main range. There are brick stacks, one added in the 19th century on the left side, and another internally on the right. Rear extensions have been added. The front has a three-window arrangement of early 19th-century sash windows, each with 16 panes of glass. The front door is made of six panels, with the top two glazed, and has a simple canopy supported by brackets. Inside, the original timber frame is of high quality, featuring stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops, along with some original door and window openings. Historical records indicate that this property, along with numbers 83 and 85 on High Street, were often owned jointly and have been re-roofed, sub-divided, and re-combined over time, obscuring the original structure’s divisions.