17, Market Hill

This building on Market Hill in Saffron Walden is a shop that was once part of the Sun Inn, a larger complex that also included numbers 25 to 31 Church Street. The property consists of two rectangular blocks, one dating to the mid-14th century and the other to the 16th century, originally forming a service cross-wing and an addition to a medieval hall. Both sections were decorated in the 17th century and restored in the 19th century, along with the rest of the Sun Inn.

The north elevation, facing Church Street, features the western, 14th-century cross-wing. It has a jettied ground floor with three windows, each with a central mullion and trefoil sub-lights, although the window heads are a 19th-century replacement. The first floor has three windows with 19th-century cast-iron hexagonal latticed panes. To the east is a late medieval cross-wing. A doorway is set diagonally on the corner of Market Hill. Above the door, two diagonal braces support the jetty, which is a 19th-century addition. The first floor window is a three-light casement with cast-iron latticed panes. The original roof joists are now covered by a facia board dated 1600, decorated with leaf-patterned wave motifs. The first-floor pargetting displays reticulated motifs including flowers and geometrical patterns. A large, Tudor-style brick stack rises from the roof.

The eastern elevation, facing Market Hill, continues the 19th-century Tudor restoration. A diagonally-set door is flanked by a four-light shop window. A tall, narrow fixed window is set further along the ground floor, and the first floor has one three-light and one two-light window with cast-iron latticed casements. The jetty is similarly concealed by a facia board with reticulated pargetting.

The southern, rear elevation shows the 14th-century gabled cross-wing and adjacent block, largely obscured. The cross-wing is plastered and has irregular window openings. The ground floor has a 20th-century door and a small glazed opening. The first floor has a sash window, a casement, and an intermediate 20th-century casement.

Internally, the structure of the 14th-century cross-wing remains visible in the roof, which is of crown-post construction.