The Old Lodge And The Post Office

The Old Lodge and the Post Office is a house and post office, dating to the early to mid 16th century, with additions from the mid 16th century. Originally built on a three-cell cross-entry plan, the cross-wing now housing the post office was added as a parlour block in the mid 16th century. The building is two storeys high and stands on a red brick plinth, which may be an original feature. The upper floor is jettied towards the street, with exposed joists supported by brackets, which feature carved buttress-shafts. Two beams at the cross-wing are decorated with vinescroll carving. A mid-20th-century restoration of strapwork pargetting adorns the first storey, replicating an earlier design. Much of the timber framing is visible at ground storey with plaster infill panels. The roof is tiled, with axial and external red brick chimneys. Various windows are present, including 18th or early 19th-century splayed bays on brackets at ground level, and small-pane casements at the first storey. Several 16th-century openings with four-centred arched heads have been glazed or exposed and plastered over, and the damaged cills of two oriels are visible, both featuring rose-carved spandrels. The wing above the post office has two windows with moulded mullions and arched heads to each light. A 20th-century half-glazed door serves the main entrance; the post office has a 19th-century six-panelled door, the upper panels glazed. Evidence suggests a rear external staircase once existed on the wing. Internal features include exposed timber framing, close studwork with tension and arch wind-bracing, and plain crown post roofs. Original elements include a shop with arch-headed windows and a buttery, a two-bay hall with a chamber above, a partitioned shop with an arched door and window, and a more elaborate parlour cross-wing with an arched doorway, now glazed.