The Hospice

This is a mid-17th century house situated on the north side of High Street in Marshfield. Constructed of ashlar, it features a double Roman tiled roof and a centrally placed ashlar chimney stack with a cornice. The house has two storeys and a cellar, with a plinth at ground level. It is arranged with three bays, and a continuous string course runs above the ground floor. A projecting two-storey bay window dominates the centre, topped by a coped gable featuring a saddle stone. This bay window has 1-2-1-light windows with 20th-century casements containing iron glazing bars within ovolo moulded mullions and surrounds. Similar casement windows, with 2 and 3 lights, are found to the right. A projecting, gabled porch of around 1800 is to the left, with a window in an architrave on the first floor, a square-headed entry, and a panelled inner door set within an ogee moulded surround. Inside, the drawing room contains moulded beams and wall plates. A central beam has a moulded edge to one side and holes in the soffit, once accommodating a screen. The fireplace is wide, though altered. A fine first-floor room boasts a moulded freestone fireplace with a depressed 4-centred head and ovolo/ogee moulded surround; a panelled cupboard is positioned to the left, featuring an upper ventilation grille with serpentine curved splats. The house is a good example of a vernacular, burgess house.