The Overhangs, Peach Street

This run of buildings, while superficially appearing to be a single construction, shows on closer inspection that they comprise two buildings. These were built at different dates, the earliest estimated to be around the early 16th Century. They display a jetty, which is the name used to describe the timber framing at the point where the upper floor overhangs the lower floor. There are many other buildings in Wokingham that retain or have had a jetty, but not all are so obvious; some have been disguised by shop-fronts, while others have had their ground floor walls built out flush with the upper storey, effectively disguising their previous layout. We are fortunate that these buildings survive, as there was at one time pressure to demolish them. Only the actions of a local businessman, who purchased them himself, secured their future.

It is thought that at one time the Windsor Forest Verderers' Court was held here, dealing with offences committed within the bounds of the Royal Forest. The judges could extract fines for minor offences, but more serious cases had to be referred elsewhere.
 

The Wokingham Walk