40, Crown Street

No. 40 Crown Street is a house dating from the early 16th century, which was refronted in the late 18th century and modernised in the late 1960s when a large two-storey extension was added to the rear. The building is timber-framed and rendered, with 20th-century plain tiles on the roof. It has a two-cell plan and was originally jettied at the front. A large internal chimney stack made of Tudor brick rises from the rear slope of the roof.

The exterior features two storeys, an attic, and a cellar, with a two-window range. The first storey has 12-pane sash windows, while the ground storey has larger similar sashes, all set in flush cased frames. There are two segmental-headed lead-covered dormers in the attic with rendered cheeks and small-paned casement windows. The entrance is marked by a six-panelled door with reeded architrave, a hood, and brackets, accessed by three stone steps with cast-iron wreathed handrails.

Inside, the cellar is lined with rubble flint, small stone fragments, and render, featuring heavy main ceiling beams. There are two small pointed-headed niches in the south wall and a fireplace with a timber lintel on the west side. The ground storey has had all partition walls removed, revealing boxed-in main beams and an open fireplace with a 19th-century segmental-arched brick surround. The remains of a remodelled 18th-century stair with bracketed treads can be found in the south-west corner.

On the first storey, a section of late 17th-century framing is visible, featuring a straight brace and bisected studs in a cross wall. The wall plates, posts, and main beams are exposed in one front room, with one post showing empty mortices for braces. The attic storey also has exposed main timbers, and the attic floor joists are linked to main beams that are morticed into the main posts well below tie-beam level, resulting in higher attic rooms than usual, with a straight section of wall at both the front and back. This design is similar to that found at the rear of No. 58 Abbeygate Street, which is also a two-bay jettied range.