The Old Bell Public House

The Old Bell Public House is a 16th-century H-plan house that was raised and extended in the 17th century to form a U-plan with a rear courtyard. Further alterations occurred in the 18th century, evident in the doorcases and windows. The building is two storeys and has a cellar. It is timber-framed and plastered, with weatherboarding to the ground floor of the east flank and the upper floor of the southwest wing. The steep red tile roof has bellcast and boxed eaves to the front, is hipped to the east, and gabled to the west. A large central chimney is located at the junction with the east wing, and another external gable chimney was added to the west end of the former service rooms. The original rear wall plate was cut by first-floor windows, indicating a formerly lower hall block flanked by narrow gabled crosswings at each end.

Original 16th-century queen-post roof structure with heavy cambered tie beams and heavy curved braces remains within the east wing. The main roof was raised and hipped, probably in the late 17th century. A lower, two-storey outbuilding, attached to the west rear wing, features a timber-framed and weatherboarded pigeon-loft under an old tiled roof, with a lower storey renewed in brick.

The street front has a high brick plinth and pargeting in small panels with a chevron pattern. The window spacing is irregular. The upper floor has three windows, formerly 3-light mullioned and transomed wood casements, now replaced by 12-pane windows with top-hung vents. The ground floor has three small bay windows; the central one is modern with square framing and leaded lights, while the outer two are early 19th-century canted bays with 2/2:8/8:2/2 sash windows and moulded cornices. Two doors are present, one to the west of the central bay and one at the extreme east of the front. Both have fine, matching door surrounds dating to around 1770, featuring narrow panelled pilasters that support moulded brackets carrying a full entablature with a dentilled triangular pediment. The frieze and architrave both break forward over the brackets, and a central section also features this projection. The frieze has a running Greek key pattern with fluted panels in the centre and above each bracket. A 6/6-pane flush boxed sash window is present on the first floor of the west rear wing. The east flank has a two-light Yorkshire window to the first floor, and 2-light and 3-light 19th-century casements to the rear. Inside, there is a fine open fireplace with an iron crane on the ground floor, central bar, and exposed beams on both floors. A good plank door is on the first floor next to the stack. Evidence suggests the presence of separate external stairs to the wings, which were linked when the roof was raised. The building operated as a former coaching inn.