Grove Cottages

Grove Cottages, originally a house and later a public house, now two dwellings, likely dates to the later 16th century, with alterations in the 18th and 20th centuries. The building is timber-framed, with brick cladding and some brick infill, all painted white, and has a red tile roof. It has a single-depth, four-and-a-half bay plan, originally likely of smoke-bay type, and includes an added rear outshut. There are two storeys and three first-floor windows. It features a plinth, a doorway to No.1 positioned between the first and second bays, with a modern door and a pentice canopy above. There are three two-light casement windows on each floor, the ground-floor windows under segmental heads. A ridge chimney sits between the second and third bays, a gable chimney is to the right, and at the left end is a large external chimney stack with a broad flint-clad base, a tiled front, and a brick chimney detached from the gable wall. One gable wall displays exposed timber framing, including a tie-beam, collar, queen struts, and king-strut, with brick nogging. The interior reveals a timber frame with a narrower bay at the north end, which was probably the former smoke bay and now contains an inglenook fireplace. There are large, laterally chamfered beams. On the first floor, there is an exposed wall-post, scarf-jointed wallplates, and an arch-braced tie-beam between the third and fourth bays. The roof is a common-rafter roof with curved windbraces to the purlins. Historically, in the 18th century, the building operated as The White Hart Inn; it was later renamed The Saracen and Ring.