The Three Cups Public House

The Three Cups Public House is a timber-framed building dating back to approximately 1500, with significant later alterations in the 18th century. The southwest and southeast elevations have been rendered and encased in brick. The roofs are gabled, covered in clay plain tiles and low-pitched asbestos sheeting. A 20th-century rebuild of the road front features a parapet and a projecting band between the storeys. The first floor is pebbledashed, and the ground floor is finished with ashlared render. The front elevation has a 7-window range of 20th-century double-hung sash windows with small panes, and a central, early 19th-century doorcase with a moulded architrave, console brackets supporting a dentilled cornice. The southeast elevation is red Flemish-bond brickwork, reduced in height following a fire. It includes a projecting canted bay window with double-hung sash windows and a mixture of double-hung sashes, some with arched heads and others with flat, gauged brick arches. A low, parapeted gable covers the front half. The northeast elevation comprises three parts: a flat-roofed, 2-storey block at the southern end, a 2-storey, slate-hipped block in the centre with a jettied upper floor and two surviving brackets, and a steep-gabled section at the north end with a jettied upper floor and eight exposed joist ends, along with one original bracket. The ground floor of this northern section has a canted double-hung sash oriel bay with small panes on timber brackets. The rear elevation is rendered, with traces of ashlar, painted brick, and weatherboarding. A 2-storey cross-wing at the northeast corner of the complex features richly moulded spine beams bridging joists and common joists. The roof survives with collared rafter couples, but there is no evidence of former crown posts. A larger, 2-bay structure forms the northern part of the frontage block with a similar moulded ceiling. The gap between these blocks may have been a stackbay. Adjoining the southeast flank of the cross-wing is a single bay of jettied framing with a spine beam and a moulded impost from the late 16th century. Inside the southeast part of the public house is an early 18th-century well staircase with barley-sugar balusters and a panelled dado. A first-floor ceiling with fleurs-de-lys and roses formerly existed, similar to that at The Globe. Historically, the building served as a council chamber before the rebuilding of the Guildhall and was referred to as a ‘mansion’ in the 17th century. It is believed to be a purpose-built inn dating back to around 1500.