Parish House

A row of three cottages, likely built in the mid- to late 18th century and potentially incorporating an earlier structure, stands in Smethcott. The cottages are constructed from painted red sandstone rubble, covered by a corrugated iron roof over what was originally a thatched roof. They are arranged as single-cell dwellings, with one storey and an attic. An eyebrow dormer window, featuring a two-light casement, is positioned off-centre to the left. A large brick ridge stack is located off-centre to the right, and an external brick end stack to the left has a later 19th-century brick top stage. There are three small casement windows, each with a boarded door to the left side, and two later rendered buttresses. A two-light window illuminates the gable end of the right-hand cottage. Inside the central cottage, the ceiling is low-beamed, with an open fireplace featuring a lintel and a 19th-century range. A winder staircase is situated at the rear, close to the stack. The interiors of the end cottages were not inspected. A straight joint is visible to the left, suggesting that the row of cottages might incorporate an earlier two-bay house, possibly framed. These cottages represent a rare and largely unaltered example of 18th-century squatters’ dwellings.