1, Eastern Road

Former farmhouse, circa 1600, possibly with a slightly earlier core, extended in the later 17th century. The building was clad in brick around 1800 and underwent some reordering in the early 20th century.

The structure is timber-framed with small panels and straight braces at the angles. The rear is mostly infilled in soft red brick, while the south elevation and gables are clad and partly replaced in Flemish bond red brick. The east gable is weatherboarded at upper level. A section of exposed studs and woven wattles with daub infill survives on the rear ground floor wall under the outshut. The roof is hipped with plain tiles and brick stacks.

The building comprises four bays running west to east. The central two bays are part of the original build, with the left-hand bay heated and the right-hand bay unheated and now housing the stairs. The west bay appears to replace an earlier third bay. The east bay is a later addition, with the original ground floor end wall removed and replaced by a later partition which reduces the stair bay. Behind the second bay is a rear outshut under a continuous catslide roof, with a small additional lean-to built against the west wall. The south entrance is in the third bay, though a blocked doorway in the second bay under the stack suggests a former lobby entry plan. There is possibly a former doorway in the rear wall behind the stack, now infilled in brick. A large axial stack sits between the first and second bays, with a small external stack at the east gable. The central bays have a queen strut roof with a rebuilt central truss and a collar beam enclosed by an inserted ceiling.

The south elevation is clad and partly replaced in red brick, with three ground floor windows under broad cambered soldier arches. A blocked entrance in front of the stack has a small inset window. The entrance to the third bay was formerly under a gabled porch and has a framed plank door. Two flat-roofed first floor windows rise above but do not cut through the wall plate, with the window to the third bay below the eaves. The rear wall has irregular window openings set into but not cutting through the frame, and a rear doorway to the first bay. Windows throughout are timber casements, mostly small-paned, though the window to the rear of the fourth bay is probably early 20th century, and some are later 20th century top-hung casements. The rear outshut, clad or built in red brick, has 20th century openings. Under the outshut is a section of exposed wattle and sections of daub infill in the rear wall of the house.

Internally, the two inner bays have cranked cross beams and tie beams. A large brick stack is remodelled on the eastern face under a replaced bressumer, and to the west the stack has an early 20th century timber surround. The first bay has slender ceiling joists. The second bay has an axial beam set into the cross beam and supported above the chimneypiece, with slender joists all bearing vestigial ogee chamfer stops, possibly inserted. The third bay houses an early 20th century and later stair modelled on the late 17th century, reusing some turned balusters and rail. Ground floor axial joists are cruder and more substantial than those in the second bay, and are usually considered old-fashioned for the early 17th century. The fourth bay was remodelled in the early 20th century and has a small brick and tile fireplace with a vertically boarded door on pin hinges. The central bays have a wind-braced queen strut roof with the central strut added to support an inserted ceiling. Crude joints where the wall plates are extended to west and east are clearly visible in the end bays. On the first floor the main stack has an early 20th century brick fireplace and timber surround flanked by cupboard doors. Doors throughout are generally of ledge and broad plank construction, some studded, some on pin hinges. The first floor has elm boards. The roof was not visible above the inserted ceiling.

The building now stands somewhat incongruously in North Town, which until the mid-20th century was undeveloped but is now a light industrial and retail area. The complexity of the plan is rare for Hampshire, where three-bay, lobby-entry plan buildings are typical of the early 17th century. The joinery is unusual, with cranked beams that are exceptional for the area and may represent a timber shortage at this date. The survival of the fabric on the rear wall in good condition is of special interest. The building may possibly contain a slightly older core or represent a pattern of building conservative for the early 17th century.