Description

SAFFRON WALDEN

TL5338 HIGH STREET
669-1/1/196 (East side)
28/11/51 No.32
Cross Keys Hotel

GV II*

Former house and shop, now public house. C15, C16 and early
C19. Timber-framed, part rendered and parts with original
framing exposed. Low pitched slate roof, hipped on SW corner
with small gablet. 2 storeys. L plan.
Front to High Street is of 2 parts, all with rendering raised
above original exposed timber-framed facades. The N part has
exposed jetty with 2 brackets and C19 leaded light oriels, on
ground and first floors. The S corner block has frieze window
of traceried lights (largely a restoration) with panel of
original, thin, plank-like chevron bracing. Beneath the
exposed jetty are 2 original shop windows and early C20 door
opening. The S flank of corner block is jettied (dragon post
on corner) with curved arch braces, 2 further drop windows and
series of cinquefoil-headed paired windows. A block to the
rear, E, is rendered with jetty and 2 exposed brackets and has
four 16 paned double hung sashes on the first floor. The
ground floor has a 16 paned similar window and 2 paired 12
paned double-hung sashes, a door and a 16 paned casement. Tall
C19 stack over E gable end and truncated stack on ridge line,
near W end of roof. The SW corner block is a former shop with
original entrance from King Street. The N flank originally
contained a `high-end-recess' for former hall bench. The
adjoining block to N was an early C16 parlour, open framed to
shop and with moulded (recessed ogees), bridging joist and
girts. The later S flank wall is of C16 panelling with frieze
of fluting, 4 consoles and inserted marquetry panel with arch,
date 1569 and initials W.A. The rear wall had a post where
mouldings are interrupted by leaf stops framing a contemporary
rear stack (now much altered). The front ground floor wall of
this block originally contained a door opening (to N) and a
very wide oriel taking up the rest of the facade. The S wall
on the first floor is thought to have similar panelling.
(The Buildings of England: Pevsner N & Ratcliffe E: Essex:
London: 1965-: 335; Vernacular Architecture: Stenning DF:
Timber Framed Shops, 1300-1600: Comparative plans:16: 1985-:
35-39; Stacey HC: Saffron Walden in Old Photographs: Saffron
Walden: 1980-: FIG.45,46).

Listing NGR: TL5373338455

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17534102

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

• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)