Chaplins

House. Dating to the early 16th century, with later alterations and additions, Chaplins is a timber-framed building with a rendered and weatherboarded front range, and rendered rear extensions. It has plain tile roofs and red brick stacks. Originally designed as an open hall with a jettied two-storey cross wing to the right, and a through passage to the left, the former service wing on the left is no longer present. There is a single-storey range to the right and a two-storey gabled addition to the rear. The house consists of a two-bay hall and a two-bay cross wing. The timber framing exhibits close studding with a middle rail. The front door is planked, featuring long strap hinges in a Tudor-arched entrance. A six-light diamond mullion hall window, with a likely 19th-century oriel inserted below, is present. A gabled dormer sits above. An inserted stack is located to the right of the entrance. The cross wing has a cross casement window with leaded lights, a brattished middle rail below the jetty, and an oriel window positioned above. This is flanked by original six-light windows with ovolo principal mullions and diamond subsidiary mullions. The gable features studding and down braces. The roof sweeps upwards, with a ridge stack.

Inside the through passage, blocked paired Tudor-arched service doorways with cavetto-moulded decoration and moulded spandrels are visible. A jamb of the original rear entrance remains. The hall contains an inglenook fireplace with a bressummer, and a beam above the inglenook displays a merchant's mark carved in relief. Wall posts to the front and rear have attached chamfered shafts surmounted by short, half-octagonal posts with moulded capitals. One deep beam has an ovolo moulding on its outer face, while the opposite face has a plain, stopped chamfer. A longitudinal beam features ovolo mouldings and moulded joists. Two 18th-century corner cupboards have shaped shelves. In the cross wing, exposed timber framing includes wall posts with arch braces to a chamfered beam, and studded walls. The exposed joists are notable, along with remains of wall painting depicting a lattice-work design in white containing fleur-de-lys on a red background, another section with white paterae on a green background, and a painted rail with a black foliate design on a white background. On the first floor, the hall range features chamfered jowled posts with large, chamfered arch braces forming an arch beneath a chamfered, cambered tie beam. The foot of a crown post is visible, with a moulded base and a cavetto-moulded post. A crown post is visible in the roof space, with a moulded capital and braces to a collar purlin. Another unmoulded post is at the junction with the cross wing. The wall plate has an edge-halved scarf joint. A moulded plank door, likely from the 16th century, is next to the stack. The cross wing posts are stop-chamfered to the tie beam, with mortices for missing arch braces. Two unmoulded crown posts are found in the roof space, also with braces to the collar purlin.