The Charity

The Charity is a house, now a row of houses, that dates back to the 15th century, with alterations and extensions made in the 16th and early 18th centuries. It was reconditioned in the late 20th century. The building features a timber frame that is exposed with plaster infill and has a plain tiled roof. Originally designed in a Wealden plan with four framed bays, it has two storeys, a basement, and an attic, sitting on a plinth with underbuilt jetties at the left and right end bays. The right end bay has a surviving jetty that returns to the right on a dragon post. The roof is half-hipped and includes three gabled dormers, a stack at the end right, and a large stack churner at the centre left. There are four light and two three light 20th-century casements on each floor, along with rib and stud doors on the left, centre right, and right. A basement opening is located in the right return on the high plinth. The right end bay is framed separately and may have been added when the hall was ceiled over, as indicated by a panel of tension braced framing in the upper left. The remaining framing, which is now exposed, is of a later character and was originally meant to support a rendered and sashed facade that has since been destroyed. The building was formerly used as the village workhouse.