Listed Building: 5 BIRD-IN-HAND STREET (1067572)

TQ 53 37 SPELDHURST BIRD-IN-HAND STREET, OLD GROOMBRIDGE 16/452 No 5 20.10.54 GV II* Cottage. Probably late C17/early C18, minor C19 and C20 modernisatian. Timber-framed on coursed sandstone footings. Most of the frame is hung with peg-tile but the lower section is weatherboarded. Brick stack and chimneyshaft. Peg-tile roof. Plan: 2-room plan house facing north east. Direct entry into the larger left (south eastern room) which has a projecting gable-end stack. Unheated service room to right. 2 storeys with secondary rear outshots. Exterior: Irregular 2-window front of C19 and C20 windows (some frames may be older) containing iron-framed casements and diamond panes of leaded glass. Ground floor right (the former service room) window at the right end returning round the cornerpost; presumably this was once a shop window. Roughly central doorway up a couple of stone steps contains a probably C19 plank door. Main roof is gable-ended. Interior: Only the ground floor was available for inspection at the time of this survey. The fireplace is blocked by a C20 grate and both rooms have plain axial joists. This small, attractive cottage is one of a group of remarkably well-preserved estate houses associated with Groombridge Place (q.v.) which make up the village of Old Groombridge. Listing NGR: TQ5297337723