54-60, CHURCH SQUARE

This is a range of buildings on Church Square, dating back to the 15th century but with an 18th-century front. Originally known as Grene Hall, it later served as the Custom House. The complex consists of a central hall with solar (private living quarters) and buttery wings, with numbers 54 and 56 forming the buttery wing. The structure is two storeys high with an attic, displaying seven windows in total, and has two dormers containing casement windows. The front is clad with red mathematical tiles, some of which have been renewed or replaced with standard red tiles, and a tiled roof. Windows are recessed within their surrounds, and flat hoods shelter the doorways—the one at number 60 being particularly large and supported by carved consoles or brackets. The entrances feature six-panel moulded doors. The north wall of number 60 includes a projecting 16th-century chimney stack with a stepped gable and a pointed doorway featuring a drip stone and steps leading down to the mediaeval cellar. According to the Victoria County History, the hall, now within numbers 58 and 60, retains a 15th-century roof, a 16th-century fireplace, panelling, and a staircase. Queen Elizabeth I was received at the hall in 1573. Numbers 48 to 64 form a group.