The only timber-framed houses in this stone-built town are in the Shambles. They date from Tudor times. The Shambles was once a market place in the centre of the town. Gradually stalls were replaced by a triangle of permanent shops. At its west end was a pub called the Scribbling Horse, where the Post Office now stands. A scribbling horse was a frame with iron teeth used in cloth-making, the industry so important to the town.
