7 Salop Road

This is a house dating from the late 16th or early 17th century, which has been altered several times, notably around 1620, and again between the 18th and 21st centuries. A restoration and rear (west) extension occurred in the mid to late 20th century.

The main, east-facing range is timber framed with plaster infill, a brick chimney stack, and a slate roof. The south gable wall is of red brick, while the 20th-century extensions to the rear are of rendered brickwork. The original building has a square footprint and a lobby-entry plan, with similarly sized rooms on either side of the brick chimney stack. Further extensions to the rear form a rectangular plan extending westward from the original timber frame.

The two-story timber-framed front range has a pitched roof. A late 19th-century chimney stack rises through the western (rear) roof slope, aligned with the central bay. The front elevation is symmetrical across three bays, with a two-story, gabled cross-wing projecting forward from the central bay. The cross-wing’s first-floor timber framing is close-studded, with a central rail on both ground and first floors, and moulded bressumers on its south and north faces. A round-arched, open porch with an internal wooden bench sits above the main entrance, which has a panelled door placed on the line of the original front elevation. Above the porch is a Venetian window with an eleven-paned central element, flanked by four-paned windows. The gable features 19th-century fretted bargeboards and a 20th-century finial. The north and south bays each have 20th-century tripartite timber casement windows on both ground and first floors. The north bay retains the original locations of two-light mullion windows on both floors, now infilled. The slate roof overhangs the south gable end, supported by moulded timber brackets on brick corbels.

The rear elevation of the original range comprises three rendered brick gables, likely dating to the 18th or 19th century, each with a timber, multi-paned window. Later 20th-century extensions project from this rear elevation, creating a U-shaped plan and largely obscuring the rear elevation of the original front range.

The interior is characterized by exposed timber framing, with square panels and some wattle and daub infill revealed, alongside long, straight tension braces. The original back wall remains visible, showing mortice holes where vertical posts have been removed. A chamfered spine beam with run-out stops and heavy joists are present in the southern ground-floor room, along with an infilled inglenook fireplace containing a cast-iron cooking range. The early 19th-century staircase features turned balusters. Slightly cambered tie beams are visible in the gable ends, though the roof trusses are concealed.