The Bell

The Bell is a former public house dating from around 1500. It is a two-storey building constructed with a timber frame and plastered exterior. The roofs are gabled and covered in peg tiles, featuring a 1½ storey gabled brewhouse extension at the west end and a long hipped rear extension also in clay peg tiles, with a lean-to at the end. The rear elevation has two stages of outshots and an open porch.

On the front elevation, the first floor has three double-hung sash windows with small panes. The ground floor features a central double-hung sash window with small panes, flanked by late 18th-century doorcases with open pediments, and a pair of canted bay windows with small panes. The western doorcase has been infilled with a modern window. A red brick stack is located at the gable end on the west side.

Originally, this was a two-storey long-wall jetty house, now underbuilt, with one bay later partially removed and replaced by a c 1600 cross-wing. The eastern end served as the service area, and traces of the buttery and pantry subdivision remain. The existing front door leads into the hall, and the original muntin and rail screen has been relocated to create an internal passage, retaining part of the original hall door opening with an ogee and hollow chamfer on the jamb.

Part of the rear outshot includes a stair tower with a partly original newel stair. The roof features a notable side-purlin and windbrace design, with a raised collar over the upper chamber, expanded rafter heads, and V struts at the solar end. The floor joists have soffit tenons, and there is a cast iron yard pump at the rear.