The Fox Goes Free

The Fox Goes Free

An inn, predominantly of the 17th century but believed to have 16th-century origins, with additions and alterations spanning subsequent centuries.

The building is constructed of flint with brick banding and dressings, and some stone quoining. The roofs are tiled with brick chimney stacks. The wooden window frames are 21st-century replacements.

The main 17th-century range is oriented north-south and faces into a forecourt, with a wing to the north-east enclosing the north side, extended by a former laundry and outbuilding range. A former bakehouse projects from the south-west corner of the main range. A probably 18th-century addition projects from the north-west corner, with a stable block to the north and a lean-to annexe filling the space between the north-west and south-west projections.

The main range is of two storeys beneath a hipped roof, with cambered-arched openings to the ground floor. The quoins to the south end are of substantial blocks of dressed limestone – possibly reused from an earlier building or surviving from an earlier phase – with brick continuing into the upper storey. The principal east-facing elevation is of three bays with a central entrance and a blocked door opening to the south; the door is 20th-century planked. Windows to north and south are regularly positioned but of irregular sizes, with casements to the ground floor and sashes to the first floor. The north-east wing is slightly lower beneath a pitched roof; its south-facing elevation has a cambered-arched doorway to the east containing a planked door, with a large ground-floor casement to the west and a sash window above. Attached to the east end of the north-east range is a single-storey outbuilding range of two units, now converted to bedroom use, with new casement windows and planked doors to south and north; a brick buttress is positioned towards the west end of the south elevation. The south elevation of the pub features a doorway to the west at the south end of the main range, with a casement window to the east and a central casement above. The former bakehouse is attached to the south-west with a single high-level window. This projection is extended in the same plane by a 19th-century block with a window on the western side; both sections are covered by a slate roof. The western elevation of the main range is obscured by 18th and 19th-century additions housing the kitchens, which have modern windows. The north elevation contains a 20th-century entrance with flanking lights at the end of the main range; to the east is the blind north wall of the eastern wing, and to the west is the former stable block, converted to restaurant space with inserted windows.

Internally, the main range has a lobby-entry plan form with a central stack serving a room to the north and one to the south, with a small lobby at the entrance. The entrance lobby is paved with brick, with 18th-century plank and batten doors leading to the rooms. The room to the south, now the restaurant, contains the timber framework of a screen which formerly divided the space to west and east with a central opening; the brickwork of the small chimney opening is exposed. A doorway at the south-west end of the restaurant leads to the former bakehouse, which retains its brick bread oven with heating chamber below. In the room to the north of the lobby – now the snug bar – is an exposed axial beam; both this and the joists are chamfered with scroll stops. The fireplace is an inglenook, lined with brick and with a plain timber surround; within it is an iron fireback decorated with grapes and fleur-de-lys, carrying the date 1588, possibly connected with the site but not integral to the fireplace in its current form. The north end of the range contains the main bar, with early-20th-century fittings including the bar itself. A plaque commemorates a Women's Institute meeting of 9 November 1915. A timber screen with brickwork to the lower part divides the main bar from the 'Hat Rack Bar' in the north-east wing, which has early-20th-century dado panelling and a rebuilt inglenook fireplace. Timber posts with elaborate carved chamfer stops, supporting the ceiling in this area, are thought to date from the 20th century and are also found in the converted stable to the north-west. The ground floor of the south-western part is occupied by the kitchen, which does not retain historic features. The stair, in a projection at the centre of the west elevation, leads to a passage running southwards along the west side of the main range, with three rooms opening to the east. In the northern room of this range, the timber framing of the walls is exposed, as are the beams – with scroll-stopped chamfers – and the chamfered joists. This room contains a small 19th-century fireplace with a hob-grate; the two-panel door with raised and fielded panels and H-hinges is probably 18th-century. The other two rooms have fewer historic features. Towards the north end of the range, a passageway gives access to the north-east wing and the northernmost room. The northernmost room has 18th-century panelling with recessed panels on two walls. The eastern wing contains a single room open to the collars of the roof trusses: there are three trusses, the easternmost having an arched collar, whilst the other collars are straight. The brick chimney stack rises against the eastern wall of the room, with a small opening and no fire surround. The roof over the northern section of the main range is of common rafter type, with roughly-hewn rafters morticed and tenoned at the apex, supporting a ridge piece; the roof has undergone considerable adaptation towards the north with the insertion of additional timbers. The roof over the north-west wing is of similar type, though with less substantial timbers, some pegged timbers, and some replacement. The former laundry and outbuilding range has been converted to provide hotel accommodation; the interior is not of special interest.