Formerly TR 35 NW 160

Description from record TR 35 NW 80:
5275 No 38 King Street (South-West Side) Sandwich. TR3358 1/104 Grade 2. This would appear to be a much earlier building, probably C15, behind a C18 facade. Ground and 1st floor one window with glazing bars in 12squares. Stuccoed 1st floor. Eaves cornice and grouped consoles and tiled roof. Modern shop front. Nos 38 to 54 (even) form a group. (1) No 38 King Street, appears to have been erected in the late 14th century, and extended twice before the middle of the 15th century. There is every indication that it has always been an inn, right up to the 1920's, it being known then as the 'Green Dragon'. It was built on a very narrow plot of land, being only 14 ft wide. This is usual in very ancient towns, the reason being that earlier, Norman type buildings were much smaller. the remains of four early stone and flint buildings have been discovered in Sandwich, and the average size fo these is 24 ft by 24 ft. A curious feature of the building isthe ancient stone flagged passage, which despite the narrowness of thesite ran right through from King Street, up to 1927, and from then until the alterions of 1969 still remaind from the back of the shop through to the back garden. This was at first puzzling, but as several other passages led from king street to New street, the reason becomes clearer, that for centuries the townsfolk went daily through to New Street, where still runs the Delf Stream, an artifical, stone lined water course, which since sometime before the year 1200 was the only water supply of the town, right up to the last century. The alterations of 1969 provided an unusually good opportunity to examine the timber-framing. The present building was first constructed on three floors on the street front, with the roof parallel with the street, and having gable ends. Behind this wing wasthe open hall, with a crown post roof running at right angles to the front wing. The remarkable thing here is that the hall has never beenfloored in, although a staircase has been built in it, one can still stand at ground level, and look up at the crown post. Not long after the construction of this part, an extension was added at the rear, making the whole building now some 65 ft in length. Behind the first hall are double posts, and the completely separate framework of the extension. This has been mutilated somewhat at ground floor level, with the insertion of the wide brick fireplaces, but can be better seen on the first floor, behind the chimney. It is quite free of smoke blackening and so did not have a hearth of its own, and does not appear to have been a separate dwelling. The timbers of the hall nearer the street to show smoke blackening in places. A second extension was added to the rear end of the long building, andat right angles to it, on the west side (see illustration card no.1), still in the fifteeth century. All this coincides with the great upsurge in travel and pilgrimages between 1380 and 1460, when so many fine timbered buildings were erected in Kent and elsewhere. Only a fragment of the second extension can be seen at the rear of the attic,or roof space. The great fireplace and chimney were added during extensive alterations in the seventeenth century, and recently a small window from this period, with its ovolo mullion and diamond panes of glass still intact and original was discovered beneath canvas and many layers of wallpaper. The first hall once had moulded beams all around, and parts of these may still be seen, though much mutilated. One such beam supports the gallery, which is also a passage over the lower long passage. The old inn remained largely as it always had been until 1927, when itwas empty. The small room on the ground floor had two steps down intoit, very low head room, and part of the space was still taken up by the through passage. To make it into two shops the first floor joistsand jetty were taken right out, and the stairs pushed back into the hall (see illustration card no 3). The old timbers proved to be so hard, and difficult to remove, that the operation took thirteen weeks. The shop ceiling was raised, but it leaves a 3 ft 3 ins void between it and the joists of the second floor. The stairs belong to this period. The roofs of the three builds are all of the standard medieval design, that is, with paired rafters, collars, and a collar purlin supported by a crown post. The two surviving crown posts are interesting, and were not made by the same carpenter. The one in the first hall is wholly square in section, except that the chamfers on the shaft make this octagonal. The crown post further to the rear has octagonal capital and base, as well as the shaft. This assembly is almost in mint condition. In a Kentish country house of the same period, the roofs are invariably hipped, but here there are no hips. This was usual in towns, where other buildings stood in close proximity. (2)

The following text is from the original listed building designation:
1. 5275 KING STREET (South-West Side)
No 38 TR 3358 1/104
II GV
2. This would appear to be a much earlier building, probably C15, behind a C18 facade. Ground and 1st floor one window with glazing bars in 12 squares. Stuccoed 1st floor. Eaves cornice and grouped consoles and tiled roof. Modern shop front.
Nos 38 to 54 (even) form a group.
Listing NGR: TR3312058056 (3)

Building considered as part of the Sandwich Project for which an archive exists Ref: BF039750 38 KING STREET, SANDWIC H
NB the archive is not held by Kent County Council

<1> DOE(HHR) Dist of Dover Kent 1976 74 (OS Card Reference). SKE40952.

<2> Typescript notes unpublished (E W Parkin) (OS Card Reference). SKE50692.

<3> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.