TQ 53 37 SPELDHURST BIRD-IN-HAND STREET, OLD GROOMBRIDGE 16/446 The Old Town Post Office 20.10.54 including front area railings GV II* House, once 2 cottages, the northern one of which was once the post office. Probably late C17/early C18, minor C19 and C20 modernisations. Plinth of coursed sandstone. Timber-framed. Square panel framing exposed at ground floor level on the front where it is nogged with red brick. Rest is hung with peg-tile. Brick stack and chimneyshaft. Peg-tile roof. Plan: 3-room plan house facing east north east, say east and built down the hillslope. Largest room in centre with rear lateral stack. It seems that it was built as one house, was divided into 2 in the C18 or C19 and has been reunited to its original form. One of the unheated rooms was probably built as a workshop or shop. 2 storeys with attics in the roofspace and lean-to outshots to rear. Exterior: Irregular 3-window front of old casements containing diamond panes of leaded glass. Both front doorways (from former cottages) contain C19 plank doors under shallow timber hoods. Roof is gable-ended and carried down over outshots to rear. Plinth is quite high on left (south) end because of the falling ground level. Interior: Shows largely the result of C19 and C20 modernisations. The ground floor fireplace has been relined with C20 brick. Only exposed carpentry on the ground floor is the lintel and central room crossbeam, both of which have plain chamfers. Attics are plastered and it is not possible to examine the roof structure. Small garden in front of the left (southern) former cottage is enclosed by C19 cast iron railings set into a sandstone sleeper wall. They include gate posts with fleur-de-lys finials. All the buildings around the Green are old and none have been massively modernised in the C20. Old Groombridge is not only picturesque but is a rare and precious collection of unspoilt old buildings, all related to Groombridge Place (q.v.). Listing NGR: TQ5300637663