11 Bird-In-Hand Street

This is a cottage, likely dating from the late 17th or early 18th century, with smaller alterations made in the 19th and 20th centuries. It has a tall plinth of coursed sandstone, while the rest of the structure is timber-framed, with the ground floor weatherboarded and the upper floor hung with peg tiles. A brick stack, originally with a stone base, and a brick chimneyshaft are present, along with a peg-tile roof.

The cottage follows a two-room plan, facing north-east. The larger room on the right (north-west) has a projecting gable-end stack, and a smaller former service room is to the left. The building is two storeys high with attics in the roof space and a cellar is located under the left end. There are various 19th and 20th century single-storey extensions, one at the right end and others to the rear.

The front has a regular, though not symmetrical, three-window arrangement of 19th and 20th century casement windows containing leaded diamond panes (some window frames may be older). A front doorway is located to the right of centre, accessed by a flight of seven stone steps, and has a plain plank door. A boarded hatch in the tall stone plinth provides access to the cellar at the left end. The roof is gable-ended.

The interior has largely been modernised with 19th and 20th century finishes, obscuring much of the original carpentry. The fireplace has been blocked. A chamfered axial beam remains on the ground floor, and the roof structure in the attic is now boxed in.

No. 11 is a charming and well-preserved cottage that contributes significantly to a notable group of similar buildings associated with Groombridge Place, forming the character of Old Groombridge village.