Scole Inn

The Scole Inn, formerly known as the White Hart, is a grand inn built in the mid-17th century, located on the north-west side of Norwich Road in Scole. A print from 1745 depicts its elaborate sign from 1655, which extended across the road with a footbridge, though the sign has since been demolished. The inn is constructed of fine red brick in English bond and features two storeys plus an attic. It has five Dutch gables, some of which have been rebuilt, displaying alternating segmental and triangular pediments. The tiled roof has Dutch gable ends, and there is a moulded brick cornice and string course.

The building is accentuated by giant brick rusticated angle pilasters and flat pilasters in two orders between them. The ground and first floors have three-light sash windows in segmental-headed openings, with three on the first floor featuring shaped brick aprons. The ground floor to the left includes an early 19th-century bow window with thin reeded pilasters and cornice, retaining its glazing bars. The attic has four and five-light casements with leaded panes and moulded brick cornices above. There are three original moulded and panelled doors within moulded doorcases, with the central door featuring a rectangular fanlight.

Large brick chimney stacks are present, with round-headed panelled sides; the central stack has round shafts and a panelled base. At the rear, there are three projecting wings with Dutch gables. The stuccoed bays between the wings, with the first floor on the right being rusticated, have twin gables. The first-floor windows are flanked by wooden pilasters that support entablatures with pulvinated friezes. The ground floor is supported by wooden Tuscan columns in antis, with a balustrade.

Inside, the inn features a solid staircase in the centre rear wing, complete with heavy turned balusters, square newels with finials and pendants, and a moulded rail and string with linked ovals and lozenges. The first-floor assembly room has a moulded ceiling, while another first-floor room showcases a moulded plaster ceiling and a chimney piece flanked by Ionic pilasters. The interior retains many original doorcases, doors, fireplaces, and moulded ceiling beams.