55, Castle Street

House, former inn. 15th century, altered in the 18th century and extended in the early 19th century. Timber-framed, rendered and colourwashed, with rear addition in flint and brick. Two storeys with 20th century clay tiled roof. The plan is irregular, following the original T-shape with several rear additions.

The front south elevation displays a two-window range parallel to the street with a projecting cross-wing at the east end. The windows are irregular. On the ground floor from west to east: a doorway with moulded architrave and four-recessed panel door, followed by two similar early 19th century triple sash windows with bead moulding (1x2, 2x2, 1x2 panes). The cross-wing has a doorway with overlight and a 20th century boarded, battened and studded door, plus an early 19th century triple sash window with glazing bars (1x4, 2x4, 1x4 panes). The first floor contains, from west to east, two similar late 18th century sash windows with moulded architraves and 4x4 pane glazing bars, a smaller late 18th century sliding sash window with moulded architrave and 4x3 pane glazing bars, and on the cross-wing one sash window matching the principal windows to the west. The plastering shows remains of panelled basket decorated pargetting and simple wooden moulding beneath the eaves. 18th and 19th century stacks are seen behind the ridge of the principal range and set back over the gable of the cross-wing.

The rear north elevation shows the principal range and gabled cross-wing with two additional gabled extensions west of the cross-wing of differing depths, plus a gabled ground floor addition to the cross-wing. A roof over the central addition extends over the yard to the rear section of the cross-wing, creating a passage or porch over the back door on the west side of the cross-wing. A simple doorway with overlight contains a four-fielded panel door. The cross-wing ground floor extension, built of flint and brick, has a 20th century two-light casement window. The inner west face has a side door with four-recessed panels. The cross-wing first floor has a 20th century two-light casement window. The central addition of flint and brick has a ground floor sash window with 4x4 pane glazing bars. On the first floor is a 20th century three-light casement window with 6x3 pane glazing bars. The west gabled addition, set back and of rendered timber, has a ground floor early 19th century door in a simple surround with four flush-reeded panels, adjacent to a probably contemporary sash window with 4x4 pane glazing bars. The first floor holds a similar window. Three red brick stacks dating to circa 1600 are positioned over the centre of the east cross-wing, behind the central addition and lateral to the principal range behind the gable of the west cross-wing.

The east elevation faces a public pathway from Castle Street to the recreation ground. It shows the side of the cross-wing with a lower two-storeyed pantiled extension and a further single-storey block to the north. The ground floor has a 20th century casement window and two early 19th century sash windows. The first floor has a two-light casement with one light containing plain 20th century glass and the other old glazing with 3x3 pane glazing bars. Plasterwork at the south end of first floor level shows remains of panelled basket pargetting.

Interior: The outline of the 15th century medieval hall-house and contemporary cross-wing is clear. A hall wall plate below the front first floor windows indicates two bays with tie-beam dovetail and rafter seatings. A gap in stud pegs on the west bay shows the probable site of a hall window. The cross-wing was originally jettied (now underbuilt) and a cross passage ran through between the present front and back doors within the cross-wing. Service door head-recesses in ceiling joists remain, as does a vertical recess for the head of the original front door. The roof over the hall was raised in the 18th century by thin stud walling to accommodate an upper floor; some old sooted rafters were re-used with redundant collar joints. The hall roof was probably hipped at the west end, evidenced by the pargetted exterior wall of No.51. Cross-wing wall framing on the west side is visible with a tension-braced centre post; studs bear Roman numeral carpenters' marks. The site of the first floor chamber window is denoted by a full-width shutter groove and one moulded mullion now turned around. Matching shutter groove evidence exists in the east wall of the adjacent two-light window looking along the street, with matching evidence of a window in the west wall also with sill. The cross-wing has a crown-post roof remaining. Two bays are undecorated with stout curved two-way braces to the central crown-post and a cambered tie-beam below with mortices for arched bracing. The collar purlin has a splayed scarf joint with under-squinted abutment in the rear bay. Foot tension bracing of the rear gable survives; peg holes denote similar bracing once in the gable to the street. A cellar beneath the old hall range is partly cut into unlined chalk with some reused joists.

The house is of particular architectural interest as the cross-passage is under-shot—that is, it lies within the cross-wing rather than the hall, a feature seen in some Wealden houses (Nos.27 and 29 Bridge Street), and it was probably done to provide more space in a hall of relatively short length.