Sands Cottage

Sands Cottage is a house likely dating from the 15th century, with significant additions and alterations in the late 16th and 17th centuries. It is constructed of sandstone rubble, originally incorporating a timber frame, and has a stone slate roof. The building is two storeys high, with an east-facing facade of two bays and a one-bay cross-wing to the left. The window reveals are plain. A door is located in the left-hand bay. Above the first-floor windows, a wall plate displays numerous peg holes, indicating the former presence of timber studs. Multiple chimneys are visible: one on the right-hand gable, one on the front wall of the cross-wing, and one against the rear wall of the cross-wing, the last being a large external stack with offsets.

The interior of the cross-wing reveals remains of the earliest timber-framed section. On the first floor, an open truss is visible against the western wall, showing the building’s original extension further west. This truss features heavy angled braces rising to a tie beam, which supports a king post. Two purlins are trenched into the backs of the principals. Adjacent to this is a second, closed, truss, with the base of a king post and some studwork visible on the first floor. One post of this truss extends to ground level, and a brace to a cross rail indicates a consistently floored range. The main range to the north is a later, separately framed addition of three bays. These trusses have a shallow pitch, tie beams, and queen struts. Mortices for braces are present in the front wall, but not the rear, suggesting the rear wall may always have been stone. The northernmost truss has wattle holes above and below the tie beam, and evidence of smoke blackening indicates a likely original smoke bay. The floor joists in this range are chamfered and stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops.