Description

TQ 53 37 SPELDHURST BIRD-IN-HAND STREET, OLD
GROOMBRIDGE
16/457 No 12 (formerly listed as
20.10.54 The Cottage)

GV II*

Cottage. Late C16, probably C18 stair block, minor C19 and C20
modernisations. Footings and entrance front up to first floor level of
coursed sandstone. Rest is timber-framed and mostly exposed; it is brick-
nogged at ground floor level and plastered infill above; the entrance front is
hung with peg-tile above first floor level. Brick stack and chimneyshaft.
Peg-tile roof.

Plan: House is built off the lane behind No 11 (q.v.). It faces uphill to
the north west and has a 2-room plan. The larger main living room to left
(north east) has a large projecting gable-end stack. Unheated service room to
right now contains the present kitchen and entrance through right end behind
the kitchen. Probably C18 stair block projects to rear of the service end.

2 storeys with attics in the roofspace and cellar.

Exterior: Attractive 2-window front, mostly C19 and C20 casements (some of
the frames may be C18) containing diamond panes of leaded glass. Ground floor
right window (to the kitchen) a C20 casement with no glazing bars. Exposed
large framing with evidence that it once had curving tension braces at first
floor level. Tall roof is gable-ended. The left end gable is timber-framed
and the chimneyshaft rises from the stack free-standing. The right (south
west) end is the entrance front and the doorway to right contains an old,
probably C19, plank door with coverstrips. The stair turet is probably C18
brick. Some repaired closed studded framing in the rear wall.

Interior: Is very well-preserved. Main room has a chamfered axial beam with
canted step stops and joists are chamfered with step stops; similar in chamber
above. Large fireplace with chamfered oak lintel. Right (south east) side
contains a large brick oven; its tile-roofed housing projects externally. 2-
bay roof of tie-beam trusses with clasped side purlins and queen struts.
Probably C18 winder stair.

No 12 is the oldest house in Old Groombridge (apart from the C15 Court Lodge
but that was re-erected in the village in 1912). It also forms part of the
superlative group of buildings associated with Groombridge Place (q.v.) in Old
Groombridge village.

Listing NGR: TQ5294337744

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17547841

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)