19 To 23, Strand Street

This is a group of houses at 19 to 23 Strand Street, originally with the top floor of number 23 used for storage and later as a shop. The core of the building dates to the early 15th century, with further features from around 1600, as well as early 19th century windows and 20th century alterations. The houses are timber framed and have been refronted with cement render, with the south front pebbledashed. The west front has brick nogging between some of the ground floor timbers. The roofs are tiled.

The houses are three storeys high and have four windows. The window arrangement is irregular, including three casement windows, and a 12-pane sash window on the first floor of number 23 facing north. The west elevation includes a sliding casement, a tripartite sash window, later 20th-century casements, a 1930s metal-framed casement to the south, and an early 20th-century casement on the ground floor. The second floor of number 23 has four original loading bays used for storage, a unique feature in Sandwich and a rare occurrence in Kent. The shutters date to at least the 18th century. The first and second floors overhang on jetties. Number 23 has a corner post with brackets and a late 19th-century shopfront with a fascia and panelled riser.

Inside number 23, the ground floor features a large dragon beam, a roll-moulded beam and a large brick fireplace dating to around 1600, with a wooden bressumer above. The first floor has exposed timber framing, further dragon beams, curved wind braces, remnants of original window openings and a smaller brick fireplace with a moulded bressumer. The second floor retains some original floorboards and exposed framing with curved windbraces. Part of the roof was replaced in the early 19th century and again in the 20th century.