Freeman Hardy And Willis Smith Bros

HIGH STREET 1. 5403 (west side) Nos 44, 46 and 48 (Smith Bros and Freeman Hardy and Willis) TQ 2636 NE 5/32 II GV 2. C16 timber-framed house, remodelled in C18 and shops inserted in middle of C19. Two storeys. Front stuccoed with later shopfronts. Four mid C19 sashes with moulded architraves and vertical glazing bars. Hipped roof now covered with modern pantiles. Left hand bay has C17 to C18 brickwork and some timber-framing of this period. Overhang to Ifield Road elevation. This elevation has a 2-storey range stuccoed, probably with timber-framed core with casement windows and Horsham stone slab roof. C17 brick chimneystack. Internally, some of the structural timber-framing is exposed on the first floor. Square framing and some close-studding. The roof is not earlier than the C18 but the Horsham slabs may have been reused. Early C18 dogleg staircase with moulded handrail, newel posts and turned balusters goes up from first floor to attic and there is a short run of the balustrade at the stair foot. Early C18 corner fireplace with wooden bolection-moulded surround. When the shops were formed in the Mid C19 the upper storey was underpinned on iron stanchions.

Listing NGR: TQ2673636572