Merchants and Kings Lodgings

Merchants’ houses 

Many historic buildings survive in and around Strand Street. Close to the junction with Harnet Street, numbers 39 and 41 Strand Street were originally one building called The Pilgrims House. This was later divided into two properties which are now called Harfleet House and Dragon Hall. They are both restored, timber-framed merchants’ houses dating from the 1330s. Each has a three storey, jettied range along the street with a great open hall behind. At the back of number 39, a stone-built undercroft (underground chamber) is incorporated into the structure. This probably belongs to an earlier building complex that once occupied the site 

Pillory Gate 

On the quay opposite was Pillory Gate. This was the site of the pillory where offenders were subjected to public ridicule or, more painfully, thieves were nailed by the ear to the post until they could struggle free. The gate itself was probably little more than stout wooden doors closing the narrow passage that led up from the quayside. Town butchers regularly used this Gate to dump unwanted offal and other waste into the river at low tide, much to the annoyance of the Mayor and townsfolk. 

The King’s Lodging 

Between Strand Street and the river, near St Mary’s Church, the ‘Kings Lodging’ (number 46) is set within walled grounds. This used to be known as the ‘Old House’. The large medieval building consists of a 15th-century open-hall house with a three-storey, timber-framed range next to it. The house has extensive linenfold panelling (which looks like folded sheets of linen on the surface of the wood). At the back of the building on the first floor, a room is set out as a solar with a raised platform for a bed and a view over the river. It would have originally been built for a wealthy merchant of Sandwich, perhaps William Giles, a brewer and local businessman. 

This building may have been the White Hart Inn that was leased and occupied by the jurat and former mayor, John Iden. When he died in 1587, he left the lease to his wife Richardine, with instructions not to carry away the settles and glass windows which would leave the house ‘destitute’. In 1713, a brick façade was added to the original timbered house, as often happened with old medieval buildings in the town. A reworked gateway topped by a Dutch gable is in the boundary wall along the street front. It has a worn stone tablet incorporating a date of 1534. The gateway has a wooden door with iron spikes that are said to have come from the old Town Gaol. 

Archaeological excavations carried out along the riverfront next to the house have revealed a section of timber wharf frontage of late 17th- to early 18th century date. 

Wherever the White Hart Inn was, it had a bowling alley. This may have been on Bowling Street, as the quayside area would have been used for merchants’ houses and businesses 

Harnet Street 

Harnet Street takes its name from the Arneys family who were medieval landowners and officials of the town. Along Harnet Street, as elsewhere in Sandwich, later building fronts obscure and disguise much older structures behind. This is well illustrated by the building 30-34 Harnet Street, at the junction of Harnet Street and The Butchery. Originally, this may have been two properties which were later joined together. 

On the Harnet Street side, a carved wooden doorway arch (now blocked), used to open onto a passageway. This led to the main open hall of the original building which dates from the 15th century. 

On the opposite side of Harnet Street is number 29. This is another medieval timber building that was refronted in the 18th century, when the jettied overhang was cut back and plastered. Most of this house dates to the 16th century but the rear wing was built in the 14th century, when it was the home of a wealthy wine merchant, Thomas Elys. 

The garden wall south-west of number 29 incorporates the remains of another large and important medieval dwelling, which is now demolished. This was built during the 13th or early 14th century and once occupied a corner plot at the junction of Harnet Street with Guildcount Lane. It may have been built for the Gibbon family who were wealthy local merchants. A finely-constructed flint wall with Caen stone dressings still runs along Harnet Street. It is one of the best examples of knapped and squared flint-work to be found anywhere in the country.