12, Bird-In-Hand Street

The property at 12 Bird-in-Hand Street is a late 16th-century cottage, likely with a 18th-century stair block and minor 19th and 20th-century alterations. The footings and entrance front, up to the first floor, are constructed of coursed sandstone. The remainder of the building is timber-framed, with brick nogging at ground floor level and plastered infill above. The entrance front is clad with peg tiles above the first floor. A brick stack and chimneyshaft are present, and the roof is covered with peg tiles.

The cottage is situated behind number 11 and faces uphill to the northwest. It has a two-room plan, with a larger main living room to the left (northeast), featuring a projecting gable-end stack. The unheated service room to the right now contains the kitchen and entrance, with the probable 18th-century stair block projecting to the rear of the service end. The building is two storeys high, with attic space in the roof and a cellar.

The exterior presents an attractive two-window facade, largely with 19th and 20th-century casements, some with diamond panes of leaded glass. A 20th-century casement lacking glazing bars is present in the ground floor to the kitchen. The exposed timber framing shows evidence of previously curving tension braces at first floor level. A gable-ended roof tops the structure, while the left-end gable is timber-framed, and the chimneyshaft rises freely from the stack. The entrance front, at the right (southwest) end, contains an old, probably 19th-century, plank door with coverstrips. A brick stair turret likely dates to the 18th century. Some repaired closed studded framing is visible in the rear wall.

The interior is exceptionally well-preserved. The main room features a chamfered axial beam with canted step stops, and similarly chamfered joists in the room above. A large fireplace with a chamfered oak lintel is present, as is a large brick oven with a tile-roofed housing that projects externally to the southeast. The roof is a two-bay structure of tie-beam trusses with clasped side purlins and queen struts. A probable 18th-century winder stair is also present.

Number 12 is considered the oldest house in Old Groombridge, aside from Court Lodge (which was re-erected in the village in 1912). The house is part of a group of buildings associated with Groombridge Place.