Robin Hood House

Robin Hood House is likely a 17th-century inn, built on the foundations of a 16th-century cellar, and altered in 1855 by the 2nd Lord Brownlow. It was later converted into a private house in the 19th century. The building is constructed of red brick with random black headers to the ground floor, which projects forward, while the upper floors appear to be timber-framed and roughcast. It has steep red tile roofs. The house is a large, symmetrical building with two storeys and attics. The west front has gabled wings flanking a recessed central section, which is three windows wide, and features two gabled dormers and formerly a central entrance. There is one window on each floor of the wings. Casement windows are present, with the attic windows retaining rectangular leaded panes. A steeply gabled red brick porch with buff brick dressings and a Brownlow plaque is located on the south side. The south front has three windows, including a tall bay window to a single-storey wing and a canted oriel above a three-light window on the left. Tall red brick internal chimneys are also present. Historical records indicate that in 1746, Francis, the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, auctioned hunters at the sign of the Robin Hood on Little Gaddesden Hill to fund canal construction. The Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (1911) noted the presence of old floor beams and flat-shaped balusters on the attic stair.