25, Kempton

House. Dating from the mid-to-late 15th century, the house was partly remodelled in the late 17th or early 18th century, with later additions, alterations, and a late 20th-century extension. It is timber framed with rendered and painted brick infill and painted uncoursed limestone rubble to the right gable end, and has a straw thatch roof.

The original plan was of an open-hall house, aligned east-west, likely comprising four cruck-framed bays, including a solar. The east bay (the service-end) has a first floor, and an ornamental truss is located between the central and west bays of the hall. In the late 17th century, the centre bay was floored over, and the west bay and solar were demolished. An integral end stack was built, converting the plan to a two-cell baffle-entry type. The building is one storey and has an attic. The timber framing consists of square and rectangular panels, from the cill to the wall-plate. A large arch-braced true cruck truss to the right gable end has stepping to the apex, suggesting the whole truss was intended to be visible from within the open hall. There are 19th-century casements to the left and right, and two raking eaves dormers, also with apparently 19th-century windows. A 20th-century ledged door is located to the far right. An integral rubblestone end stack is on the right.

Internally, three true cruck trusses survive, including the one exposed externally to the right gable end. The central truss was formerly with an arch-braced collar, now sawn off. The first floor to the east bay is likely original, and is on a different level from the first floor of the present right bay. A room below is divided by a square-panelled spine wall; each small room is entered by separate doors on either side of the dividing wall. This arrangement possibly preserves the layout of the medieval service-end, with a buttery and pantry. There is some evidence for the position of a screens passage below the present centre cruck truss, however, evidence for external entrances is obscured to the rear and difficult to detect to the front. An inserted floor to the present right room has parallel chamfered spine beams with flat joists (late 17th/early 18th century), alongside a contemporary chamfered wooden lintel to a stone inglenook fireplace. A left dormer has a two-light chamfered wooden mullion window with stave holes for vertical bars, probably dating from the 17th or earlier. Remnants of leather covering are present. A spine wall dividing the left ground-floor room has two leather pockets attached. An inset cupboard above and to the left of the fireplace also has leather covering to the butterfly hinges.

A two-storey timber-framed addition in a matching style to the rear, dated "1978" on the tie beam, is not of special architectural interest.