Dove House

Dove House is a pair of houses dating from around 1540 and the early 17th century, which were unified into one property in the 20th century and converted into a café in the late 20th century. The building features a rendered and colourwashed timber frame set on a brick plinth, with machine tile roofs.

The exterior is divided into two parts, with the early 17th-century section to the north protruding and having a steeper roof pitch. This part is two storeys high and has a two-window range, featuring two 2/2 horned sash windows on the first floor and a tripartite sash window on the ground floor, along with 2/2 and 6/6 unhorned sashes. The gabled roof has a stack on the rear slope. The 16th-century southern section is also two storeys tall, with a 19th-century studded door from the old town hall positioned to the right. To the left is a tripartite casement window with glazing bars. The first floor was once jettied and still shows exposed studwork, including a blocked 3-light mullioned window. The roof is gabled, and there is a full-height rear outshut. A two-storey rear wing with a gabled roof and stack was extended to the west in the 19th century.

Inside, the original extent of the rear wing is indicated by wave-moulded early 16th-century joists on the ground floor and former external wall studding on the first floor, where the tie is supported by arched braces. The frame includes jowled principal posts, and the south wall has a blocked 4-light diamond-mullioned window. There are shutter grooves in the supporting rails. The late 20th-century staircase and roof structure have altered the front range. The ground floor features chamfered bridging beams and a blocked 4-light mullioned window in the north wall. The roof of the southern part retains a late crown post roof from around 1540, consisting of two bays with a square-section post and arched braces to the crown purlin, but no provision for collars.