1264, HIGH ROAD N20

No 1264 on High Road N20 is a house that has been converted into commercial premises. It dates from the late 15th century to early 16th century, with additional work done in the 18th century, and alterations made in the 19th and 20th centuries. The front part of the building is made of red brick laid in Flemish bond, while the rear section features a close-studded timber frame with wattle and daub infill, which has been partly underbuilt and replaced, and is now rendered. There are also brick additions. The roofs are covered with plain tiles and have a brick chimney.

The 18th-century front range is two storeys high with an attic and consists of three bays. To the rear left, there is a two-storey, three-bay timber-framed range, and to the rear right, a 19th-century lean-to. A 20th-century two-storey addition is attached to the end of the timber-framed range. The street elevation features two late 20th-century shop fronts with a central passage leading to a recessed door. On the first floor, there are three sash windows set in reveals, with the window heads breaking a stopped dentilled eaves-band and a rounded left corner. In the attic, there are three round-arched dormers with six-pane sashes and overlights.

At the rear, the front range has an external stack and a small first-floor window on the right. The timber-framed range includes a six-panel part-glazed door and a variety of 20th-century windows. Inside, the rear of the front range has a six-panel door near the stairs and a short section of a chamfered spine beam with a stepped cyma stop. The timber-framed range retains its best features on the first floor, where there are jowelled wall posts and close-studded wall framing with long arched braces reaching up to the wall plates and tie beams. In the central bay, there is a two-light window with a diamond-set mullion on the rear wall and a later two-light window in the right bay. The tie beams support crown posts that have straight braces leading up to the collar purlin, although some braces have been removed. The old rafters appear to be smoke-blackened in the end bays but not in the center. The ground floor still has some old wide-spaced joists and floorboards, along with a sawn-off chamfered spine beam in the right bay. It is likely that the front range replaced an earlier timber-framed building. Documentary references to the property on this site date back to 1504.