Lurcocks Of Lenham And The Bow Window

This property comprises two houses, now used as a shop and hairdresser, with living accommodation above. The house on the left, known as Lurcocks of Lenham, likely dates from the early 16th century or earlier, with an addition from the mid to late 16th century, and subsequent alterations in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is timber framed, with the front elevation weatherboarded. The side elevations show exposed studding and plaster infilling, and the roof is covered in plain tiles. The building runs at an angle to the road, and is five bays long—three from the early 16th century and two to the rear from the mid to late 16th century. It is two storeys with a garret; the roof is half-hipped with a gablet. A small 2-light horizontally-sliding sash window is situated in the garret, and there’s a rectangular first-floor bay window with a corniced top. A 19th-century shop front with a door occupies the ground floor. Inside, exposed timbers are visible, including a plain crown post with two upward and two downward braces. There's a reversed assembly in the east gable end, as well as a fragment of a timber firehood. A small early window with leaded lights is found in the north wall, along with 18th-century panelling, cornice ceiling beams, and first-floor windows with thick glazing bars. The first floor was originally jettied to the front.

The house on the right, called The Bow Window, was built in the mid 15th century, with alterations from the 16th and 18th centuries, and a facade dating from the early 19th century. The left third of the front is constructed of chequered red and grey brick, while the right two-thirds are red brick in a Flemish bond. The roof is tiled. The design is Wealden, incorporating a hall of two unequal bays and a single-storied bay at the left end (possibly with another to the right, now demolished). It's two storeys and an attic with a plain wood eaves cornice. A red brick stack is located to the left, and a brick ridge stack is slightly off-centre to the left. A hipped dormer is positioned towards the right end. The windows are irregularly spaced, including two recessed 2-light glazing-bar casements to the right, and one recessed glazing-bar sash to the left. A bowed shop window is on the ground floor to the right, and a small bow window recessed within a brick architrave is located to the left, between the left end and the passage doors. A panelled door is at the left end with a recessed semi-circular panel above, surrounded by rubbed brick voussoirs springing from plain imposts. A boarded door, likely the original cross-passage position, is at the left end of the shorter left bay of the hall. A half-glazed door with a plain semi-circular brick head is to the right of the passage. The interior features a moulded crown post on a cambered tie-beam with solid hollow-chamfered braces and fillet, along with ogee partition braces. A brattished moulded end-of-hall beam is to the right. An early 18th-century attic door has thick glazing bars. Exposed beams and posts are also visible.