The Bear

The Bear is an inn that has been converted into a house, dating from the late 17th century. It is constructed of red brick with ashlar dressings and features a hipped stone slate roof. The building is two storeys high and has an L-shaped principal range with a rubble stone moulded plinth, flush quoins, and a coved eaves cornice.

The front of the building has a six-window range consisting of 2-light recessed ovolo-moulded stone mullion windows, which have 20th-century leaded lights and dripcourses above each floor. The fourth bay on the ground floor features a door framed by a 19th-century surround, set within a 19th-century gabled brick and stone porch. The south end wall has a window that is set in a bolection moulded former doorcase. The flush quoins at the southeast corner are set further out on the ground floor than those above, suggesting that part of the structure may have been rebuilt.

The north end of the building has a ridge stack on the rear wing and an inserted 2-light window. The east end wall contains two 2-light windows on each floor, both paired under a single hoodmould. There is a 19th-century addition on the south side. The gabled southeast rear wing has a south side plinth, two 2-light ovolo-moulded windows, a dripcourse, and an eaves dormer. The east end wall is made of rubble stone, and there is a 2-light window and dormer on the north side. The house was formerly known as the Bear Inn and was located on the main London road that crossed the downs by Beacon Hill.