3 And 11, High Street

Nos 3 and 11 High Street is an L-shaped building dating from the 17th century, with possible earlier elements. It consists of two wings, one running north-south and the other east-west. A small section of the building is No 3 High Street, while most of it is occupied by Arthur's the Builders, located at the back of a yard and numbered 11 High Street. The building has two storeys and features a tiled roof. Both wings are timber-framed, with the north-south wing clad in red brick in an "artisan mannerist" style on its western front facing North Street.

The structure has seven window bays, with a later addition of an attic storey that includes one window in No 3 High Street. Six brick pilasters extend the full height of the building, complemented by a string course and a modillion eaves cornice. The original windows were casement windows with two tiers and three lights, although some have been modernized; No 3 High Street retains sash windows with glazing bars. The gable ends face northwest, and on the western side within the courtyard, there are three gabled dormers (two featuring original brickwork) and two windows with segmental arches below.

Originally known as the Chequers Inn, the name was changed in 1660 to the King's Head Inn. Locally, it was referred to as the Marquis of Granby, as it was believed to have inspired the inn kept by Tony Weller's "widder" in Charles Dickens' "The Pickwick Papers." However, it lost its license between 1800 and 1850 and was not operating as an inn at the time "The Pickwick Papers" was written. The building features fine exposed timber-framing and traces of mural painting in various locations, including the ceiling of the fifth bay from the north on the ground floor of the north-south wing, the northern wall in the fourth window bay from the north on the first floor, and a fleur-de-lys design behind brickwork in an adjoining passageway. Photographs of the building are available in the National Monuments Record.