Derelict Pair Of Cottages About 160 Metres East North East Of Lower House Farmhouse

This is a derelict pair of cottages located about 160 metres east-north-east of Lower House Farmhouse. The cottages date from the late 15th century to early 16th century and were originally a single house that was subdivided into two cottages in the 18th or 19th century. The structure is timber-framed with wattle-and-daub panels, weatherboarded, and partly rebuilt in stone rubble. The gable-ended roof is covered with corrugated steel sheets.

The surviving part of the medieval hall house consists of one bay of an open hall, with a parlour and solar to the left, separated by a closed truss. The hall was floored in the late 16th or early 17th century, and during the 18th or 19th century, the house was divided into two cottages, which involved inserting axial partitions and stairs, as well as building a stack into the west front wall.

The exterior features two storeys, with the south front made of stone on the ground floor and weatherboarded above, including doorways on both sides. The rear east side has much exposed timber-framing with square panels filled with wattle-and-daub and a large tension brace on the right. The south end has stone on the ground floor and sheet steel above, while the north end is weatherboarded above a lean-to outshut. Cruck-trusses are partly exposed in both end gables.

Inside, there are two bays; the north bay serves as the solar and parlour, while the south bay was originally open to the roof. There are three full cruck trusses, with the centre truss being closed. The centre and north trusses feature dovetail lapped collars, while the south truss has curved braces leading to a higher tenoned collar. The interior also includes a trenched diagonal ridgepiece, chamfered side purlins on the backs of the cruck blades, and mostly intact common rafters. The south bay is smoke-blackened and has an inserted floor with a deeply-chamfered axial beam featuring straight stops and unchamfered joists. The north bay (parlour) has large chamfered axial joists that are closely spaced. There are remains of a shoulder-headed doorway in the hall-parlour partition, and both rooms have later axial partitions and staircases, along with a shared stone lateral stack on the front west wall.