The Gables

The Gables is a house, possibly originally a warehouse, dating from the 17th century, with later alterations from the 18th century. It is constructed of brick, colourwashed pink, with black glazed pantiles for the roof. The building has seven irregular bays, two storeys, and an attic. A two-story rear extension, built in three sections, serves as a service wing. A passage and staircase extension are located to the rear.

The front features a painted stone plinth, a renewed dentil cornice, a moulded cornice to the gable end walls, shaped gables, an axial stack between bays one and two, and an internal stack at the right gable end, with a renewed shaft. The windows are flush sashes with renewed glazing bars, located in bays two, three, six, and seven of the ground floor and in all seven bays of the first floor. The doorway to bay four has a four-panelled door flanked by fluted columns and margin lights, topped with a wide segmental fanlight with glazing bars. The door surround has rounded, fluted pilasters, an entablature, and a late 19th-century part-glazed door in bay one. Other features include an eaves platband to the right gable, a rendered left gable with a platband near the apex, and an attic window.

At the rear, there’s a raking roof dormer, a continuous two-story outshut with a sash window with glazing bars, and a semi-circular stair turret built in a header bond, with a partially renewed lead-domed roof. This turret contains a tall, renewed stair window with a semi-circular head and glazing bars.

Inside, a continuous nine-bay attic roof features three tiers, staggered purlins, a braced middle tier, collars, curved oak principal rafters, some pine rafters, and reused spars. These may have originated from dismantled ships. A door to bay four is positioned asymmetrically in relation to the foyer, and a wide segmental arch at the rear of the foyer leads to the rear passage and stair turret. A cantilevered, curved open-string staircase has a mahogany handrail with an inset strip of light wood and an ebony centre above a fluted newel, with a ramped rail to the landing. Groined vaulting is present in the rear passage on the first floor. Late 18th-century fireplaces are located within the north-east gable stack, including one on the ground floor with a “Prince of Wales feathers” motif, a motto, and a surround of Dutch tiles. Raised and fielded panels adorn a first-floor room to the left.