84 And 84A, High Street

Shops, restaurant and domestic accommodation, formerly an inn. Probably 15th century with later alterations. Timber-framed with plastered brick and plain-tiled roof, arranged in an L-plan and rising to 2 storeys.

The High Street façade features 3 late 18th-century sash windows and an oriel window, which is not original but may replace a similar window that once lit the first-floor hall. A carriage way through to the rear yard appears to have been cut through at a later date. There are no stacks to the front range, but a rebuilt 17th-century stack stands to the rear. An outshot to the rear contains the staircase and includes a modern extension; however, a blocked 16th-century half-window in the main timber frame behind it suggests this may be a later addition. The small size of this window may indicate where the original staircase was originally positioned within the main body of the building. Pargetting survives on the rear wing, probably dating to the 18th century, together with sash windows, casements and doors.

Interior: The frontage parallel with High Street comprises 4 bays originally extending to what is now the end of No. 82 (A & D Framing). The ground floor was not inspected. The first floor was originally open to the roof but is now hidden by ceilings.

At the south end of the range stands a hall of 2 unequal bays. It contains a crownpost truss, open in the roofspace but closed with a later lath and plaster partition on the floor below. Original closed trusses occupy each end with substantial arch bracing. An edge-halved and bridle-butted scarf joint appears in the wall-plate. Two original windows with ovolo-moulded frames were inserted in the 17th century, but both have since been blocked and plastered over. A window adjacent to the modern oriel may originally have formed part of a larger window lighting the first-floor hall on the street frontage. A half-size window in a modern passage at the back of the hall, north of the current stair, may indicate the position of the original staircase inside the main frame.

Beyond the hall lies a single-bay chamber with a closed truss having similar bracing; at the west side the brace is set back from the wall-plate, possibly leaving room for a gallery or passage at the rear. Widely spaced studding is visible on the first floor, with 4 original windows now blocked. Two windows to the front range have inserted 17th-century ovolo-moulded frames similar to those in the hall. Two to the rear retain original diamond-stanchioned mullions. The roofline suggests this range originally comprised 4 bays with a further room beyond the chamber, partly above the carriage way (itself a later insertion). This now forms part of No. 82 and was not inspected.

The crownpost in the first-floor hall is cruciform in section with filets to each angle, stopped at the base, which is plain with no capital. Four braces rise from the crown post—two to the underside of the purlin and two from the post to the collar. These are quite short and plank-like in section. A similar brace rises from the post of the closed truss at the north end of the hall to the purlin. The trusses and collar purlin are painted with red ochre. The chamber to the north of the hall has an identical closed truss with brace to the collar purlin but only traces of whitewash remain. The roof in this bay has additional bracing in the form of soulaces from the upper rafters to the collar purlin on every truss.

A 6-bay wing to the rear forms the L-plan with the south bay of the hall range. The ground floor was not inspected. On the first floor, bays 1 to 3 contain a brick fireplace in the corner of bay 1 and a cross wall with a primary brace of 17th-century date. A clasped purlin roof spans bays 1 to 3 without bracing but with later strengthening and replacement of some timbers. Bays 4 to 6 beyond were completely rebuilt following a fire. One original roof truss has been re-used, smoke-blackened from the fire.

History: The building was known for many years as The Falcon Inn. The earliest documentary evidence is a deed of transfer dated 1460 (Charter of John Toby regarding The Falcon in Stevenage), which supports a 15th-century or earlier origin. Other documents referring to the Falcon include a 1544 Will of John Anderson: 'I will to John Gynne of the Falcon, the elder, 12d', and a 1666 Quarter Sessions record in which Matthew Waterford of Stevenage was accused of 'stopping of a watercourse that formerly, for forty years, ran out of the Falcon yard in Stevenage through Matthew Waterford's entry into the highway'. At some point in the early 19th century, references to the Falcon disappear, and it has long been assumed its trade was taken over by the adjacent Red Lion. The street frontage has since been used as shops and more recently, on the first floor, as a restaurant.