Freeman Hardy And Willis Smith Bros

Freeman Hardy and Willis Smith Bros is a 16th-century timber-framed house that was remodeled in the 18th century, with shops added in the middle of the 19th century. The building has two storeys and features a stuccoed front with later shopfronts. There are four mid-19th century sash windows with moulded architraves and vertical glazing bars. The hipped roof is now covered with modern pantiles. The left-hand bay shows brickwork from the 17th to 18th centuries, along with some timber-framing from that period. The elevation facing Ifield Road has a two-storey range, likely with a timber-framed core, featuring casement windows and a Horsham stone slab roof. A 17th-century brick chimneystack is present. Inside, some structural timber-framing is exposed on the first floor, displaying square framing and close-studding. The roof dates no earlier than the 18th century, although the Horsham slabs may have been reused. An early 18th-century dogleg staircase with a moulded handrail, newel posts, and turned balusters leads from the first floor to the attic, and there is a short run of balustrade at the stair foot. An early 18th-century corner fireplace has a wooden bolection-moulded surround. When the shops were created in the mid-19th century, the upper storey was supported on iron stanchions.