The Guildhouse

The Guildhouse is a building of 15th-century origins, with significant remodelling around the early 16th century and a restoration in 1919 by E.H. Sedding. It is constructed of stone rubble to first-floor level, with whitewashed plastered cob above, and has a slate roof with gabled ends and an axial brick chimney. Originally designed as an open hall with ten bays, a stack and first floor were inserted in the early 16th century.

The building has entrances from both the churchyard at the north gable end and from the ground floor on the west side, which is accessed via a walled approach with stone coping. It is two storeys high and features buttresses with weatherings (three on the west side and two on the east). Windows are timber, predominantly four-light mullioned, appearing to be of early 16th-century design, and largely repaired in 1919. Ground-floor windows have chamfered lintels and sills, with four round-headed lights featuring ogee chamfers and moulded mullions; the king and outer mullions have small hollow chamfers with a bead moulding, and the subsidiary mullions have small hollow chamfers. They are fitted with leaded panes. The southernmost window on the east side remains unrestored. First-floor windows are similar in form, arranged irregularly and slightly smaller, with roll mouldings. The west front has four windows and two plank entrance doors, likely from 1919, set within older frames under wider timber lintels. A blocked opening with a timber frame is present on the ground floor to the left, and there are four ground-floor and four first-floor windows. Lead guttering and downpipes are likely from the 18th century. The north gable end has a 16th-century timber doorframe with a slightly cambered head, under a timber lintel which has bead moulding on its lintel and jambs. Small, two-light mullioned windows flank the door, one appearing original, the other beneath a heavy timber lintel.

Internally, the roof features eleven 15th-century trusses with curved-foot principals resting on a wall plate. These principals have slightly cambered collars mortised into them, with three tiers of threaded purlins. The principals are mortised at the apex, and the ridge is diagonally-set. While some roof timbers have been replaced, smoke-blackening suggests the originals are present throughout. A partition wall divides the hall at the stack; otherwise, the room is undivided. A 20th-century fireplace is located on the south side of the stack, and the east side wall plate is original. There is no staircase to the ground floor. The ground floor interior was not inspected, but large cross beams are supported on engaged brick piers.

Historically, the building was described in Churchwardens' Accounts as the "Parish Alms House," the "Church House," and the "Poor House." It housed eight paupers in 1811. In 1858, the first floor functioned as a schoolroom, while the ground floor served as a sexton's room and stables, with a stone staircase at that time. The Guildhouse represents an outstanding survival of a medieval guildhouse.