Guildhall Cottage

Guildhall Cottage is a timber-frame building dating from the early 16th century, originally constructed for the Guild of St. Thomas Martyr. It was extended and converted in the mid to late 16th century, likely for F. Sherman, and subsequently altered in the 18th and 20th centuries. The building was initially a guildhall, later converted to a house, then to four almshouses, and returned to a house again. The original construction was timber-framed, with some brick casing and a black glazed pantiled roof. Originally, it comprised six bays, featuring an open first-floor hall, an entrance, and a smoke hood at the lower end. A large parlour bay was added to the left, with a massive end stack. The building is consistently two storeys high. The front facade was brick-cased in the 20th century, and now features 20th-century casement windows and a door at the lower end of the original building. There are boxed eaves. The left-end stack includes two ornamental quatrefoils in chamfered recesses near the eaves, later buttresses on the end wall, and a coped gable parapet, with a rebuilt diagonally set shaft. The right-end features a later internal stack, also with a rebuilt diagonally set shaft and a brick end wall, with offsets on both gable ends. The rear displays scattered openings. Inside, the ground floor retains close studding, altered from its original configuration, with deeply chamfered crossed binding beams, stop-chamfered joists, chamfered storey posts, and a 19th-century inserted stack, now truncated. The first floor displays an original 4-centred arched doorhead to the rear at the lower end, suggesting a former external stair. Evidence of a smoke hood remains on the original left-end wall, and both end walls have reverse curved arched bracing. Two formerly open trusses have unjowled posts with square rebates, arched braces to stop chamfered cambered tie beams. Traces of original window openings accommodating up to six lights are visible, featuring moulded jambs and mullions with four roll moulds and cavetto angles, as well as a large sill at the upper end, indicative of an original oriel window. An arched-braced collar roof incorporates stop-chamfered butt purlins and principals, with a ridge piece, and shows traces of smoke blackening. The parlour addition continues the close studding and has a stop-chamfered axial binding beam, a large fireplace with a 16-foot stop-chamfered bressumer, and traces of a 4-centred arch in brick to the rear of the fireplace. The parlour roof is a two-bay structure with cambered collars and chamfered butt purlins.