31 and 33, Beastfair

Nos 31 and 33 Beastfair are a pair of 17th-century almshouses located on the north side of Beastfair in Snaith and Cowick. They underwent restorations in 1985-86, which included partial rebuilding from 1627 at the rear and internal alterations. The buildings are constructed of brown brick in English bond and feature a roof made of pantiles and Yorkshire slate.

The layout consists of a double-depth plan with a two-room front, which originally had a central lobby entry, and a rear outshut that incorporates two gabled wings. The former wing to the rear right is now a separate house on Butle Lane. The structure is two storeys high and has three first-floor windows.

The left side (No 31) has a panelled door flanked by 24-pane sliding sash windows beneath rubbed-brick flat arches, with a blocked central door. The right side (No 33) features a 19th-century former shop front with a panelled door in an architrave and a panelled reveal, along with a tripartite sash window with glazing bars beneath a cornice and hood. A two-course brick band runs along the first floor, with a pair of circular tie-bar ends and a painted datestone at the centre.

On the first floor, there are 24-pane sliding sash windows and a blocked central window. All windows and doors have been replaced in the 20th century. The eaves cornice is modillioned brick, and the roof is swept with a single projecting eaves course of slates. The right return, facing Butle Lane, has a blocked ground-floor window, a first-floor band, a 12-pane first-floor sash, and a blocked opening in the gable.

Inside, the front rooms feature chamfered spine beams and exposed joists. No 33 has a re-set and altered mid-18th-century single-flight staircase with column-on-vase balusters and square knops, along with an ornate late 18th-century to early 19th-century carved pine chimney-piece on the ground floor, which has been re-set from the first floor. The almshouses were converted into a solicitor's office in 1841.