The Bell Inn

The Bell Inn is a public house that originated in the mid-18th century and was enlarged around 1800, with later 20th-century alterations. The building is primarily constructed of brick, with weatherboarding and tile-hanging at first-floor level. The roof is covered in clay tiles and the windows are timber sashes.

The building comprises two principal phases. The western section dates to the mid-18th century and has a single-pile plan, while the eastern section of around 1800 has a double-pile plan with an earlier 18th-century cellar beneath. 20th-century extensions were added to the north, south and west sides.

The building is two storeys tall, partly cellared, with pitched roofs and tall end stacks. The 1800 phase features parallel gabled roofs, while the mid-18th-century western section has a steeper gable roof with lower eaves and ridge, incorporating tile-hanging and weatherboarding.

The front elevation has painted brick on the ground floor and tile-hanging on the first floor. The double-pile phase of 1800 features three two-over-two pane sash windows on the ground floor and three six-over-six pane sash windows above. The double-gabled east return is weatherboarded at first-floor level with a tall projecting end stack rebuilt in the 20th century, along with two late-19th or early-20th-century three-over-three pane sash windows and a late-20th-century sash window. The mid-18th-century phase on the front has a large ground-floor window opening with 20th-century sashes and two mid-20th-century casement windows above. The west elevation is rendered with tile-hanging at first-floor level and features a large projecting end stack with a rebuilt upper section.

The south (rear) elevation contains numerous extensions. The 18th-century phase is weatherboarded at first-floor level with a tall lateral stack. There is a two-storey gabled inter-war extension with steel casement windows, further extended in the mid-20th century with a flat-roofed single-storey addition to the east. A mid-20th-century flat-roofed extension houses the first-floor stairs. The 1800 phase is partially concealed by a mid-20th-century outshut, which has been further extended south with a single-storey pitched-roof extension added in the late 20th century.

Internally, the ground floor of the 18th-century phase contains a large inglenook with a timber bressummer at its west end, holding a remodelled early-20th-century brick fireplace. An opening has been made in the southern wall to access the outshut.

The 1800 phase includes a three-bay cellar with two chamfered transverse ceiling beams, accessed via a ladder-style stair from the servery above and a barrel hatch from street level. At ground floor, transverse and axial bridging beams are exposed. The dividing wall between the front and rear piles has been removed to create an open-plan area; wall studs and posts indicate the original layout. A late-20th-century curved bar stands behind a historic moulded doorcase in the servery, with dado matchboard panelling.

The stair is located at the rear within an early-20th-century extension. On the first floor, wall plates and tie beams are exposed in places, along with lath and plaster partitions and 19th-century fireplaces. The room in the 18th-century phase has a substantially lower floor level and is accessed via a small stair off a central corridor. The 1800 phase contains two two-panelled doors; the front-pile bedroom has been subdivided into two rooms and a corridor.

The mid-18th-century phase features a coupled rafter roof with a ridge board, reinforced with larger newer timbers. Several struts beneath a pair of principal rafters survive at the west end of the roof to the front pile. Machine-cut timbers indicate that the remaining roof members within the front pile are of later construction. The roof within the rear pile was not inspected.

A freestanding early-20th-century inn signpost stands to the front, comprising a timber post and wrought-iron fixture.

The single-storey toilet block extension that wraps around the north-west corner of the building and the open timber structure attached to the west elevation are later-20th-century additions and are not of special interest. These are formally excluded from the listing.