Tanyard House and The Butchers Shop

Tanyard House and The Butchers Shop is a house and shop located on the east side of High Street in Staplehurst. It dates from the 17th century or earlier, possibly built in two phases, with a facade added in the mid-to-late 19th century. The building is timber framed, with the ground floor constructed of red brick in Flemish bond and the first floor rendered. It has a plain tile roof and consists of two storeys plus an attic.

The section to the left of the stack is slightly recessed and features a lower midrail, possibly indicating a cut-back facade. The right section has a continuous jetty and boxed eaves. Although the eaves of the left section are currently at the same height as those on the right, they were likely lower originally, as a truncated tie-beam end is visible on the left. The exposed framing includes arch-braces and a possible window-cill on the first floor of the left gable end. The roof is steeply pitched and hipped, with a gablet on the right.

There is a multiple red and grey brick ridge stack to the left of centre, positioned at the left end of the right section, and a projecting red and grey brick stack on the right gable end, along with a rear stack to the right. A small hipped dormer with a two-light casement is located on the right section. The building features irregular fenestration with three windows: a small two-light casement on the left section, a two-pane sash, and a six-pane sash on the right section. The ground floor has canted bay windows beneath the sashes.

Access to the building includes a panelled door that leads up three steps at the left end, and another panelled door that leads up two steps between the two bay windows. There is a short weatherboarded rear wing to the left with a lower ridge and hipped roof, as well as a short rear wing to the right. Additionally, a rectangular single-storey early 20th-century butcher's shop projects forward from the junction of the two sections.