The Critt

A house, now divided, likely dating from the 15th century, with a 17th-century addition and partial rebuilding or refacing in the 19th century. A later 20th-century addition exists at the rear. The house is timber framed with cruck construction, featuring painted brick infill and a machine tile roof. Some of the timber framing is original, while other parts have been replaced with larger square panels (two from sole plate to wall plate) and smaller, 17th-century square panels (three from sole plate to wall plate). The building originally comprised a hall house, subsequently enlarged. It is one storey and attic in height. The north front has a large brick stack positioned centrally to the right, and five gabled dormers with 20th-century 2-light wooden casements. The front has five windows, mostly with 20th-century casements; two windows on the left have segmental heads. A 20th-century lean-to brick porch sits between the first and second windows from the left, with a 2-light casement facing the front and a boarded door to its return. A 20th-century glazed door is located between the first and second windows from the right. The left-hand return front features a collar and tie-beam truss with queen struts, and a single-storey brick lean-to. The right-hand gable end has a collar and tie-beam truss with queen struts and V-struts. Some timber framing is also present at the rear. The entrances to the right-hand (No. 14) and central (No. 13) cottages are located in the right-hand gable end and a late 20th-century addition respectively. The interior of the central cottage (No. 13) was inspected; it includes a chamfered elbow cruck truss with a cambered collar and a roof with straight wind braces. The ground floor has a chamfered cross-beamed ceiling. A large open fireplace features a chamfered lintel. An old doorway is visible in the rear wall, formerly an exterior opening, and now displaying a Tudor-arched head. The interior of the other cottages has not been inspected, but the right-hand cottage (No. 14) contains a cruck truss spanning two bays, and some 16th-century painted timbers on the ground floor, depicting fruit, flowers, and leaves. Further cruck trusses may be present. The Critt was likely originally an open hall house of two or three bays, later extended. The chamfered cruck truss was probably the original hall truss. Further investigation is needed to understand the building's full structural history.