Make a date with the historic home of town’s original bailiff

A LANDMARK building in the heart of Bewdley has come on to the market – and it’s an opportunity to own a piece of history.

Completed in 1610, the Bailiff’s House, in High Street, is instantly recognisable to people in the town and is known as the building that was the first in the UK to be dated using dendrochronology – the scientific method of dating by analysing the tree rings in the beams used to build the house.

This grand town centre property, which has an asking price of £800,000, was built for Thomas Boylston, the original bailiff in the town, and is now a grade II listed property that is used as a restaurant with a top floor apartment.

However, plans have been approved to convert the house back to a three-storey, six-bedroom residential property with grand principal bedroom suite and five en suites.

The agents, Fine & Country, describe the house as a “oneof-a-kind, striking building” that is packed with original features.

When it was built, between 1607 and 1610, architectural style was slowly changing and the Bailiff’s House has Jacobean detailing on the facade, as well as Tudor features. Inside, it has a wealth of period features and detailing – from the original front door with locally made nails to the initials TB in the wood.

Other features include a half florid arch carved on a Tudor arch beam, which is believed to be unique to the town, and high-style beams featuring lamb’s tongue chamfering that would only have been used in the homes of the elite, such as Boylston, the bailiff to the Crown of England.

The existing ground floor layout has a bar with seating, a large open fire and a private dining area, plus WCs and a covered patio.

On the first floor is an industrial kitchen, a second dining area and WCs.

The second floor houses the three-bedroom apartment, with two bathrooms, a kitchendiner and living room.

Approved plans could see this converted into a family home with two large reception rooms, separate office, a large kitchen with separate utility, and an orangery, plus the bedrooms on floors two and three.

While the property opens directly on to the pavement at the front, there is a large rear garden of about 160 feet in length, which is unusual for the town centre.