The Old Bakery

The Old Bakery is a building that dates from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, located on the south side of The Street in Bearsted. It consists of a house on the right and a cottage on the left, which was formerly a bakery and is now part dwelling and part garage. The structure features plastered timber framing and a plain tile roof.

The building includes a single-storey hall, which has been truncated on the right, and a two-storey cross-wing with a low bracketed jetty and a hipped roof with a gablet. There is a late 16th-century addition behind the cross-wing and a late 16th or early 17th-century cottage with two timber-framed bays to the left.

The fenestration is irregular, with a small two-light 20th-century window in the hall, a horizontal sliding casement window on the ground floor of the wing, a 20th-century casement window above it, and a large 19th-century shop window in the right section of the cottage. The hall has a 20th-century panelled door, while there is a half-glazed door to the left of the former shop window and garage doors at the left end.

The added rear bay is timber framed with plaster infilling on the left side elevation and tile hanging on the end elevation. The interior features exposed beams, joists, and posts, with a moulded crown-post at the right end of the hall.