6, Bird-In-Hand Street

House, formerly a public house. It likely dates from the 18th century, though it may have earlier origins, with minor alterations in the 19th and 20th centuries. The house is timber-framed. The ground floor front is constructed with Flemish bond red brick, and the original footings are of coursed sandstone, visible at places. The timber frame above is clad with peg-tile. It features a brick stack, possibly resting on a stone base, and a brick chimneyshaft, together with a peg-tile roof.

The house follows a three-room plan, facing northeast. A direct entry leads into the main room to the right (northwest), which shares an end stack with the adjoining property, No. 7. There are two smaller, unheated rooms to the left. It appears that this stack has always been shared with No. 7, and it is possible that Nos. 6 and 7 were originally part of the same dwelling.

The property is two storeys high with a cellar and has rear lean-to outshots.

The front elevation is irregular, featuring a three-window arrangement with a mix of 19th and 20th-century casement windows. Some windows have glazing bars, while others feature diamond or rectangular panes of leaded glass. A roughly central front doorway is fitted with a 19th-century plank door, sheltered by a small hood supported on shaped timber brackets. The main roof runs parallel to the street, nestled between the neighbouring buildings. The brickwork in front of the stack at ground floor level differs from the rest of the facade. The sandstone footings beneath the brickwork extend continuously from those of No. 7 to the right, stopping with a straight join at the front of the stack.

Internally, scant original carpentry remains, and fireplaces have 20th-century grates. Jowled heads of the wall posts and the undersides of tie beams are visible, though the roof space itself is inaccessible. The roof structure spans three bays.

It is said the property was formerly the Bird-in-Hand public house, giving its name to the street. It forms part of a particularly fine group of listed buildings associated with Groombridge Place, collectively representing the character of Old Groombridge village.