Outbuilding at the Cranbrook Engineering Works

This outbuilding, originally ancillary to the White Horse Inn (later the Bull Inn, now demolished), dates to the late 16th and early 17th centuries. It is primarily built of brick with sandstone rubble in the footings, likely reused from earlier structures. The roof structure is oak, covered with tiles.

The site of the former inn now comprises an open forecourt facing Stone Street. The outbuilding sits to the west of this forecourt, running roughly west-east along the northern boundary of the site and concealed behind a 20th-century garage (not listed).

Only parts of the building’s exterior are visible. On the Stone Street elevation, the tile-hung apex of the steeply pitched gable is visible behind the garage. A small section of the south elevation is visible between the assembly hall and stables, featuring an inserted double door on the ground floor and an inserted window above.

The ground floor interior features substantial floor joists meeting a thick spine beam, supported by two thick cross beams. These beams have deep chamfers and run-out stops and are approximately 28cm wide. In the 18th century, the building was converted to residential use, being divided into three rooms on the first floor. Evidence of this remains, with daub and stud partitions inserted within the two central trusses, and the roof ceiled below the level of the end collars. Ground floor divisions have since been removed. The original location of the staircase is unknown, though fragmentary remains of an 18th-century staircase are present. Internal walls show scars of earlier doorways, including one notably wide at approximately 1.8 meters. These doorways have been blocked, altered, and later openings inserted. The roof structure combines two types of trusses: queen post construction with clasped side purlins at either end, and a simpler design with raking struts and butt-jointed purlins in the two central trusses. A significant number of rafters have been removed where the 16th-century range adjoins the assembly hall.