The Bell Public House

The Bell Public House, originally a house and inn dating back to at least 1693, is a timber-frame building with a long west wing. The hall house was rebuilt in the mid 17th century as a two-storey structure with a central chimney and a jettied eastern crosswing. The building was altered in the mid 19th century. The exterior is timber-framed, with basketwork panelled pargetting and weatherboarded aprons. It has steep, old red tile roofs, hipped with a gablet at the east end.

The north-facing range has a central chimney backing onto a cross passage at the west end, which has twin service doors (one retaining a four-centred arched head). A two-storey west crosswing juts northwards and is jettied, featuring a large external lateral chimney on the north side, serving a large room that was formerly separated from the south room by a passage. The eastern wing is less deep, incorporating space for a staircase behind the front room. Lean-to rear extensions exist. The asymmetrical north front has one window to the upper floor of each gabled and jettied crosswing, and one to the centre. Three windows are on the ground floor, with a door to the cross passage set at the angle with the west wing. A more recent central door serves the public bar. The front door is panelled with six sections: two flush, two sunk, and two glazed, under a flat hood supported by shaped brackets. A similar hood covers the more recent central door. 19th-century two-light and three-light flush casement windows, with small panes, are present on the ground floor, except for a six-light range in the west wing, which has a flap-down external shutter. Heavy, bull-nosed joists and corner brackets are visible on each jetty, along with exposed purlin ends to clasped purlin roofs.

The tall, red brick central chimney is located a third from the west gable of the hall range. A four-light ovolo-moulded 17th-century window is on the east end. Inside, a large open fireplace is in the hall, with a wall painting from about 1720 depicting a stag hunt in a wooded, undulating landscape with mounted hunters and hounds. An ovolo-moulded axial beam is supported by the chimney. The northwest room has heavy, flat-laid exposed joists. A large early 18th-century corner cupboard with fielded and panelled doors is in the northeast room. A 17th-century staircase and exposed timber structure are on the first floor. Doors have strap hinges and hooks. The building retains wide floorboards. The pub is of special interest due to its ancient structure and the 18th-century wall painting.