The Fox Inn is ...characterised by traditional, post-mediaeval Nottinghamshire brick and pantile architecture. The earliest identifiable phase is an east-west range, running from main bar-room back as far as the west wall of the modern bay extension to the east. At ground floor level, this phase is visibly represented by a bridging beam, orientated north-south, in the main bar-room which has double chamfers and step stops – the latter is unlikely to date to a period after the mid-eighteenth century and was common in lower status spaces throughout the post-mediaeval period (Hall 2005, 159). The post-mediaeval character is maintained in the oak, clasped purlin roof structure (with single dovetail halved jointed collars) of the east-west range which regionally dates to the period c 1500-1850 (Harris 2012, 65). The roof is divided into four unequal bays by collars, however, the rafters are all of similar dimension (c 95 x 105mm) with no obvious principle rafters present. There are two longitudinal spine beams comprised of reused timbers with relict mortices. The masonry of the chimney breast and eastern gable is comprised of bricks of dimension 112mm (breadth) x 55-60mm (thickness) x 235mm (length). The gable end is supported on skew-back corbels and projects well above the roofline - suggesting that the building was once thatched. The timber wall plate is visible externally on the north elevation. A single storey extension was added at the north-west end of the east-west range, probably somewhere in the eighteenth or nineteenth century and a chimney breast was also inserted, between the two structures, at this period. Possibly contemporary with this addition, or slightly later, is the brick north-south range which was added to the south-west of the earlier wing. This has un-chamfered, machine sawn beams and joists at ground floor level that cannot be earlier than the late eighteenth century. There are blocked doors and windows with segmental heads in the east elevation. The cornice has simple dentil brickwork. The roof structure of the north-south range is composed of simply split, softwood common rafters with spiked collars (rather than joints) - indicative of an eighteenth or nineteenth century date (Harris 2012, 83-6). A single storey, outshot pantile roof abuts the north-south range on its western elevation and covers a half-basement cellar featuring brick vaults at the northern end. This build was in situ by the later nineteenth century as it appears on the 1880 Ordnance Survey map. It was later extended further to the west (Jonathan Pass, pers. comm. 19/03/2019). During the twentieth and twenty-first centuries brick extensions were added to the building – a narrow range immediately to the west of the east-west range was then abutted by two later, rectilinear, builds; a bay extension was added to the east end of the range and a new L-shaped porch was added in the angle of the north-south and east-west ranges. Three concealed artefacts were discovered during recent renovations (Jonathan Pass, pers. comm. 19/03/2019): a dried cat was uncovered in the roof structure of the western outshot roof and was put back in situ after photography. Two very worn leather shoes were found in the roof structure of the east-west range, but were discarded without record. Such artefacts have been studied extensively in recent years and growing evidence points towards their deliberate deposition as part of rituals associated with averting evil and bringing good luck to a building (Hoggard 2016, 106-117; Swann 2016, 118-130). (1)

<1> Triskele Heritage, 2019, The Fox Inn, Main Road and 4 Blacksmith Lane, Kelham Statement of Significance (Unpublished document). SNT5231.