The Limes

The Limes is a house, originally containing a shop, dating to the early 16th and early 17th centuries. It is timber-framed and rendered and has a roughcast finish, with old plain tiles on the roof. The house has two storeys and attics, arranged in an L-shape. A 20th-century two-storey entrance wing, designed in an Edwardian style with a pedimented surround, fills in the angle between the two original ranges. The main north-south range has six-pane sash windows with flush frames on both floors, and in the north gable are two very fine projecting Jacobean windows. These are three-light windows with ovolo-moulded mullions and a transome to the upper floor; the ground floor windows have 18th-century replacement casements with pintle hinges and leaded panes, both topped with triangular pediments featuring dentils. There are remains of console brackets to the eaves. The front wing, which formerly housed the shop, has damaged brackets to its gable, an attic casement window, an eight-pane sash window in a projecting frame to the first floor, and a wide 20th-century small-paned bow window to the ground floor. The main range includes an internal chimney stack with a plain rebuilt shaft, and a stack linking the two ranges, now capped off at roof level. Single-storey lean-to extensions are present on the south gable end and the rear. The main north-south range is the oldest part of the building, comprising four bays with no chimney bay; the present internal stack is a later addition. The range was originally two storeys, but there is no evidence of original heating arrangements. The timber framing displays widely-spaced studs with long arched braces, cambered tie-beams with supporting braces, and a rafter roof. The roof was originally half-hipped at both ends, with the gables pushed out in the 17th century; it has been raised along the front. The internal layout initially featured three cells. The two-bay room at the south end has an exposed ceiling with heavy plain joists and a chamfered main beam. A chimney stack has been inserted into one bay, which also formerly heated the adjoining room. The front wing was added as a Jacobean display feature, with close studding, remaining windows on three sides—originally each with a large central window flanked by two side-lights, now either blocked or replaced. The upper ceiling is original, and the roof has clasped side purlins and remains of windbraces. A staircase leads to the first floor and attic of the wing, with ornate square-headed doorways at the top and bottom; the jambs are ovolo-moulded with complex scroll-stops at the foot, incorporating carved jewels and grooves.