3 and 4, West Street

3 and 4 West Street, New Romney

Numbers 3 and 4 West Street were originally one property and are now divided into two. The building is an exceptionally well-preserved early 14th-century single-aisled open hall, substantially altered and extended over subsequent centuries.

The original structure comprised two bays of open hall with a third northern bay containing a heated chamber above and an undercroft below. The original southern end was replaced around 1400 by a two-bay crosswing with an unheated upper chamber running east to west (now no 3). A chimney was inserted into the former open hall in the late 15th or early 16th century, and the hall was ceiled over and refenestrated around 1800.

The building now stands two storeys with attics. It is constructed mainly of stone rubble with bands of knapped flint, though the projecting first-floor crosswing is timber-framed and clad in weatherboarding, supported on a wooden bracket. The roof is tiled, gabled to the main range and hipped to the crosswing, with two brick chimney stacks. Some brick patching is evident, and the upper floor of the crosswing is weatherboarded.

The east front (entrance elevation) contains three windows: early 19th-century 12-pane sashes to no 3 and mainly mid-19th-century sash windows to no 4. The central bay originally contained a tall hall window with original side jambs, later divided between two storeys with 18th-century brickwork; it now has a 19th-century casement to the first floor and sash to the ground floor. The southern bay and ground floor of the northern bay have 12-pane sashes, while the upper northern bay has a 19th-century casement. On the line of the cross passage, between the southern and central window bays, is an early 14th-century two-centred arched doorcase with a 19th-century plank door. A further doorcase with brick surround was added around 1800 between the central and northern bays. The north and south ends are concealed by later buildings.

The west elevation has a catslide roof over the aisle and is of painted stone rubble with some brickwork, though the first floor of the crosswing to no 3 is rendered. A 19th-century hipped dormer and 20th-century windows and door serve no 4. A late 20th-century conservatory to no 3 is not of special interest.

Interior

The ground-floor central room contains an early 14th-century moulded wooden dais beam, a late 15th or early 16th-century inserted stone fireplace with carved wooden bressumer featuring carved leaf spandrels and gabled salt niche, ceiling beams of around 1800, and a late 18th-century six-panelled door. The northern ground-floor room has the early 14th-century north wall with stone supports for the fireplace in the chamber above and a square niche, possibly for a lantern. Its ceiling beams date from around 1800, but a medieval floor joist remains on the line of the arcade. The western arcade retains an early 14th-century square aisle post with a long curved arcade brace rising within the former open hall and a shorter curved brace rising within the former northern chamber. Early 17th-century infill framing is present to the northern bay. The early 14th-century aisle rafters survive. A further aisle post may be concealed behind later partitions.

The northern first-floor room, the original chamber, has an early 14th-century stone fireplace with wooden bressumer in the north wall and to the east a large early 14th-century ogee-headed niche with rebate for a door. There is no internal evidence for an original staircase or doorway to the upper floor, suggesting there was probably an external staircase either to north or west. The central first-floor room retains the splayed internal jamb of the hall window and the remains of the hall truss. The attic floor retains an early 14th-century sans-purlin roof with intact rafters, including smoke-blackened examples, though the collars were removed after 1973 to provide greater headroom. The upper floor of the southern crosswing is timber-framed, retaining a cambered tie-beam with arch braces and a freestanding crown-post with an octagonal-section shaft, roll-moulded cap, four-way head braces, and a number of original rafters.

History and Significance

This is an early 14th-century domestic building of high social status, which may have been a merchant's house, the Master's dwelling, or possibly the communal hall of St. John's Hospital in the Cinque Port of New Romney. It postdates the 1297 inundation of New Romney, when the River Rother was diverted to Rye and the sea gradually receded. It represents a substantially intact and rare example of a small early 14th-century aisled hall of high social status, with a very early intact dais beam, a very rare original chamber fireplace, a late 14th-century crosswing, and a high-quality late 15th or early 16th-century inserted wood and stone fireplace among other features of interest.