The Hand And Crown Public House

The Hand and Crown Public House is a 17th-century building incorporating a 16th-century crosswing on its east side. It is situated on the south side of High Wych Road. The building is timber-framed and plastered, with a steep, old red tile roof gabled at both ends and featuring three large gables to the front and rear. A two-storey, gabled, and jettied porch aligns with a large chimney stack at the junction of the original east crosswing and the later additions to the west, rising through the rear roof slope. The stack is surmounted by engaged square shafts. A Jacobean well stair with bulbous pendants, a moulded string, and heavy turned balusters is located between the entrance door and the chimney stack. The interior layout consists of three rooms in a baffle entry plan, with a large internal gable stack at the west end in a room one step up from the hall. There are remains of a partition between these rooms. The 16th-century crosswing has been heightened and given a 17th-century longitudinal roof. It contains close studded timbering on the first floor and may have formerly been the service end of a re-arranged house. The ground floor was extended slightly north in the 18th century to accommodate a corner fireplace. A modern single-storey extension is present on the east end. The front facade features three windows with flush box sashes containing 6/6 and 8/8 panes, and a brick plinth. A single-storey rear extension is also present. Modern wooden windows are situated at the rear. Interior features on the ground floor include a chamfered cross beam with ogee stops over the central room, and paired axial beams and a crossbeam in front of the fireplace in the west room, all with chamfered, stepped concave stops. On the first floor, the timbers are chamfered around the doorway from the staircase to the middle room. Two oak doors with small, scratch moulded panels are located here, one on the west side of the room. The dado panelling is of a similar style. An early 18th-century fire surround with a swelled frieze and panelled centre piece is located along the east wall, with a door beside it featuring H hinges. The west end is axially divided into two rooms, each with adjacent corner fireplaces. A staircase leads to attic level, with plank doors and iron hinges carried on hooks. The original purlin roof remains. Framework reveals windows in every gable to front and rear, which are now blocked. The original windows and the two four-centred fireplaces noted by the Royal Commission in 1911 are no longer visible.