Meet Kings Head House

Meet Kings Head House, our new home here in Winslow, Buckinghamshire.

There has been a dwelling on this site since the 1200s, part of the medieval burbage associated with the nearby manor (think tenant property rented out by the manor), and the town itself first appears on official records around the year 792-793. By 1265, it was granted a charter by King Offa, which meant the town could host a market.

Horn Street (cattle) and Sheep Street, the two original roads through town, refer to this - though while the town still has a market in the square each week, it is now limited to food and provisions.

Kings Head House seems to have been built around a small Tudor timber-framed house (circa late 1500s-1600s). When the Georgians came along, they added a brick facade and additional rooms (1600s and 1700s-early 1800s). Not to be outdone, the Victorians and Edwardians came along with some adjustments of their own, and in the eighties an enterprising family (who I’d love to meet) by the accounts we’ve heard so far, made the house more liveable for a modern age. Fast forward again, and the most recent owners have lovingly cared for the house for the past twelve years. I’m sure over time we will learn more about the history of the house and its stories.

Two weeks in, however, we are simply enjoying getting to know this small piece of history with all its many curiousities, quirks and secrets. Every day so far there is something new to discover. To wit, the litany of things we have thus far inherited:

• a second storey chimney visible from the outside — but with a “missing” fireplace inside (seemingly covered up by a wardrobe and a bathroom wall? Stay tuned);

• an endless number of 18th century sash windows replete with original wavy glass that don’t or won’t open due to paint, broken sashes and reasons known only to themselves;

• an Elizabethan inglenook fireplace in the entry room (so big there’s a small bench in it to sit);

• an array of intentional burn marks (apropopaic marks) on the timber mantle of said fireplace — placed there deliberately to keep evil spirits away;

• in a similar “spirit” (see what I did there), one single Victorian shoe sitting on the fireplace in a guest room, found under the floorboards by a previous owner, placed there by former inhabitant for luck and fortune (along with the business cards of a wine merchant tucked inside);

• one of my favourites — one whole ton (at best guess) of coal hidden under a large board and behind a wall in a store room (discovered by us on a visit before we moved in, the sellers had no idea!);

• small key safes built into the walls of bedrooms, and a money safe by the window in the wall entry room (we understand this might date to when they sold beer through the window when the property was used as a pub - more on that to come);

• old pattern-print wallpaper (possibly 70s or 80s) hidden under lining paper in the dining room, now revealing itself slowly as pieces of the lining paper release from the walls;

• the ghost outlines of original quarry tiles buried behind more lining paper on the utility room walls;

• a beautiful collection of ironmongery — handles, hinges and hardware on cabinets and doors dating back in some cases to the 1600s;

• and finally, another favourite of mine, the knob on my office door, which conveniently and hilariously comes off wholesale in your hand whenever you try to close it!

Everywhere we look it also seems that there is something to do - repair, repaint, clean, fix, update, conserve. Where we begin with all that is a question for another day. First, meet Kings Head House.