49 And 51, Castle Street

House, now divided into 2 units. A late 15th-century Wealden recessed hall type building, timber-framed and plastered with a peg tile roof and red brick central stack. The plan is an irregular L-shape comprising a rectangular street range with a rear addition, arranged over 2 storeys with a cellar.

The south front elevation displays the characteristic Wealden facade with a recessed central bay flanked by jettied bays. The eaves are continuous with a flying plate. Jetty brackets appear at each end of the jettied sections and another occurs off-centre beneath the eastern jetty. Remains of combed panel pargetting are visible, and the stack passes through the front roof pitch. At ground floor level there are 2 front doors at the east and west ends, both with 6 recessed panels (the upper pair now glazed), set in simple frames with moulded architraves. Two windows with moulded architraves contain 19th-century sashes with glazing bars and 4x4 panes; the window in No.51 was repaired in the 20th century. The first floor has 2 windows in the projecting jetties, both 19th-century sliding sashes with 4x4 panes.

The north rear elevation differs between the two units. No.49 features a slated 20th-century ground floor lean-to and a 2-storey wing with attic and gambrel roof, all with 20th-century windows: a 2-leaf French window and a 3-light casement window with single central glazing bars and 6 panes at ground floor; a similar window at first floor with a double casement window (4x2 panes) also at first floor level; and a casement at attic level. No.51 has a 17th-century timber-framed slated lean-to at ground floor (refurbished in the 20th century) with a double casement window of 4x3 panes, a 20th-century brick single-storey wing with gabled roof containing a 2-light casement (4x3 panes) and a single-light casement (3x3 panes), and a boarded stable door with upper light. A 20th-century flat-roofed dormer window with double casement and glazing bars (4x3 panes) is also present.

Interior features reveal the original hall arrangement. The service bay lies to the east with a solar bay to the west, enclosing a central single-bay open hall with a simple crown post roof and board-shaped braces. Surviving details include the east end showing service door frame joints and evidence of short speres at the hall junction; an additional external jetty bracket marks the cross-passage location. The service end retains a rear stair trap with remnants of an associated 3-light mullioned window. At the high end (No.49), considerable portions of the rear 4-light hall window remain intact with lower mullion bars and one upper example showing hollow chamfered decoration. Similar front hall windows are now masked and infilled, though the dropped head below the eave survives. The rear wall of the solar bay shows evidence of 3-light mullioned windows at ground and first floor levels.

Ground floor fireplaces in both units are rebuilt: 19th-century with a segment head in No.49 and 20th-century in No.51, but both are surrounded by remnants of sloping timber framing suggesting an earlier timber chimney predating the present 17th-century stack. The cellar in No.51 was relined in the 20th century.

The crown post roof at the west end is cut off, indicating it once extended further west. This crude butting relates to No.47 being built against No.49, suggesting the building originally possessed a larger solar end that was subsequently reduced, with the new west wall being shared with No.47.