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