53 And 55, Farncombe Street

53 and 55 Farncombe Street are originally one house, later subdivided. The building’s core is a 16th-century timber-framed structure, significantly altered with a refronting in the late 18th or early 19th century, followed by a further extension to the front around 1900 in an Arts & Crafts style. The construction is timber-framed with a front facing of Bargate stone rubble and a later projecting gable featuring a stone plinth and tile hanging. The right side elevation is also tile-hung. The roof is tiled, featuring a tall cemented chimney stack with brick finials, along with two external brick chimney stacks to the rear.

The building is two stories with an attic to No. 55, and has four windows. The c.1900 projecting gable features a Venetian-style window with ornamental brackets and carved scrollwork; the lower casement has leaded lights and iron hinges. The ground floor windows consist of three leaded lights, the right-hand one in No. 55 being a corner window with a rusticated Ionic column and strapwork motif at its base. A round-headed brick doorcase with impost blocks is on the left side. The remainder of No. 55 is set back, displaying a half-hipped gable and a 18th-century appearance. It has a first-floor casement with leaded lights and a 20th-century casement to the ground floor, along with a fixed attic casement to the right side. The front door, situated in an L-shaped angle, has 16th-century timber framing above and a wooden seat dating from around 1900.

No. 53 features a gabled extension to the left with a leaded light casement, and a c.1900, single-story block with a Bargate stone plinth, timber framing above, plastered infill, and a tiled roof. A central four-centred arch contains gates set within square wooden piers, with two reused church trenchards. This area is enclosed by a curved forecourt wall of Bargate stone.

Internally, No. 53’s rear ground floor room features a late 16th-century spine beam with lambs tongue stops and large square floor joists. A midrail and blocked doorway in the central ground floor wall, leading to No. 55, retains jetty brackets and remnants of triangular mullions, indicating a former external wall. The first floor displays exposed ogee bracing, a weathered tie beam, queenposts, and a collar beam; the purlins were added in the 18th century. A rear bedroom has a long, slightly curved diagonal tension brace and a curious 18th-century ceiling. The timber framing extends into No. 55, which appears to have originally hosted a hall heated at the rear, while No. 53 served as a jettied parlour.