Oliver House occupies a prominent position on the north side of the present high street. Before the nineteenth century its aspect would have commanded splendid views over the Weald and western hills. The two western rooms on the ground floor are now occupied by the Cromwell Coffee House, and the single room on the opposite end and the upper floor by the Cranleigh Village Hospital Trust.

The original floor plan was of three and a half bays with a central smoke bay. It was built of substantial scantling timbers jowl posts and curved down braces, one of which remains.

The roof is of clasped purlin construction with two queen struts. The tiled roof is half hipped at the western end and fully hipped at the eastern end.

The entrance into the smoke bay remains today and the rafters in the central bay are chamfered with curved step stops. At the front the stops finish some 40cm short of the added bay in the later brick wall, indicating that the front was originally jettied, probably along the whole front. Bench seat mortices remain facing the hearth.

Only the rafters in the smoke bay are sooted together with the internal faces of the partitions, confirming the house was a built as a smoke bay. Later a chimney and inglenook fireplace were added with hearths in the upper rooms. Other additions include a rear range running the full length of the house. At some time later the brick façade was added with three bays and dormers which cut through the wall plate. The house was divided into two with separate porches and fine front doors. In order to preserve the symmetry of the façade the right hand door enters a small lobby and turns to the right into the original service bay.

Framing timbers are visible in the upper rooms with unusual carpenters marks. The roof is accessed through a small hatch in the rear wing. Oliver House is a fine smoke bay dwelling with many early medieval features. The previously estimated date was mid-16th century and dendrochronology confirmed that construction had occurred in 1560 or soon after.

In the right hand bay now occupied by the Hospital Shop a panel has been left showing the original wattle and daub construction. In this case lathes made from hazel have been used indicating that oak had become less common at this time.

Little is known about the early occupants of Oliver House, but it is said that Oliver Cromwell’s troops were billeted here when the Lord Protector visited Richard Onslow at Knowle in 1657.

From the Census returns we know that for much of the 19th century the house was owned by the Holden family. George Holden was the builder of many of the fine houses in Cranleigh and later founded the Baptist church in the Chapel on the common. The house was later occupied by his son Ebenezer Holden who carried on the building tradition in the village.

From the structure that remains and the date of the original build it has been possible to reconstruct how the house would have looked when first built in 1560.

– Michael Miller Cranleigh History Society, January 2010.

With acknowledgement to the Domestic Buildings Research Group (Surrey), Surrey Archaeological Society, and Richard Womack who kindly provided funding for the dendrochronology project.