77 77A 77B, HIGH STREET

This is a former inn range, now used as commercial premises, dating back to the 15th century, with alterations in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The front is stuccoed over a timber frame and has an old tiled roof with two gables facing the street. The main block has two storeys; the first floor features three flush-set sash windows with glazing bars (two on the left and one in the right gable). A mid-20th century shopfront occupies the ground floor, featuring a large timber-framed plate glass display window, a recessed entrance on the right, weatherboarded flanking panels, and a deep fascia. A carriageway is located on the right, with exposed beams above. A two-storey rear outshoot, dating to the 16th and 17th centuries, is timber-framed and plastered with old tiled roofs. It has sash and casement windows, a modern glazed entrance door and sidelight on the ground floor, and a modern three-light casement window with small panes in the gable. A 19th-century single-storey wing extends to the south.

The interior of the main block has been opened out on the ground floor, revealing exposed studwork suggesting two original two-bay structures side by side. The first floor retains an exposed braced tie-beam truss over the carriageway and a two-bay crown post roof above the wing. The left-hand range also has a crown post roof above a ceiling. A chimney at the rear is positioned in a narrow smoke bay, with an 18th-century moulded fireplace surround on the first floor. The rear outshoot features a two-bay crown post roof, and a wooden mullioned, unglazed window, now plastered over internally on the first floor below the eaves alongside the central tie-beam truss. This indicates the former existence of an upper open hall in the rear range.

The site was occupied by The Bell Inn, first recorded in 1479, which later became incorporated with the adjoining Star Inn (number 79).