1500s

Taylour House is a C15th timber-framed house Grade II* listed building. The main construction period was 1400 to 1499. Sir William Taillour sometimes spelt Taylor or Taylour (1406–1483) was Lord Mayor of London in 1468 (during the reign of Henry VI). He was a wealthy grocer who served as a Sheriff of London for 1455 and was made an Alderman in 1458. He was appointed Master of the Grocers’ Company in 1475 and again in 1483.

He was knighted on 21 May 1471, (the same day that Henry VI of England died) and elected Member of Parliament for the City of London in 1483 as one of the two aldermanic representatives for the city.

Taylour House was built for Sir William as his country residence. If you look at the right spandrel of the entrance door, his coat of arms can be seen, and that of the Grocers company in the left.

Sir William died in 1483. During the following 550 years it has been a family home, a public house called the "Griffin Inn" or "Gryphon", which was running during the reign of King Henry VIII, and an antiques showroom.

Jacobean Era

Taylour House has a Jacobean staircase and a number of Jacobean wall paintings. In the upstairs bedrooms look out for the well-preserved painted walls of early C17, one with scrolls of foliage another with scene of Judith and Holopernes and arms of James I. These pictures, which date to 1610, were discovered in the 1960's beneath layers of old wallpaper. They are part of a series illustrating the OId Testament story of Judith and Holophernes. She is depicted in Taylour House as a lady of Jacobean England about to enter the tent of Holophernes, where she cut off his head. Above her inscribed the words "unto him in tent and immediately he was in love".

The panel on the right has the coat of arms of James I, suggesting that Taylour House may at the time have been occupied by a Royal Warrant-Holder, possibly, a Justice of The Peace.

1880's

In the 1880’s parts of the house was taken down to make way for

an Oddfellows club.

1900's

In the 1900’s the presence of the antiques business in Edenbridge High Street was well established. Early on in the 1900’s Charles Wayte and Chevertons traded from Taylour House. Taylour House was the perfect backdrop for an antiques business with good sized rooms, wood beams and historical details.

Old pictures of the house show the property adorned with cast iron fire-backs on the external walls and then ‘Wayne and Cheverton’ painted on the

hanging tails.

1954

The building gained a grade ll* listing on the 10 September 1954 - only 8% of listed buildings are Grade ll* or Grade l. The listing described Taylour House as a fifteenth century timber-framed building which has been much altered externally, for example a seventeenth century chimney stack and a first-floor modern mullioned windows have been added.

Today