Grange Cottages

This is an open hall house, now divided into two cottages. It likely dates from the 14th century, with significant remodelling occurring in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, and subsequent later additions and alterations. Number 2 is timber-framed with red brick infill, while Number 1 is clad in painted 18th-century brick. Both cottages have plain tile roofs. The building is arranged in a 'T' shape; the main hall of 21 framed bays (in Number 2) has a two-bay cross-wing attached at a right angle to the east end. Number 2 is one storey and has an attic, whereas the cross-wing has two storeys and a continuous floor band. The timber framing on Number 2 features square panels, two from the sill to the wall-plate, and was undergoing restoration in 1985. A moulded bressumer on the north gable of Number 1 indicates that this section of the house was formerly jettied. The fenestration is irregular. There are four late 20th-century gabled dormers in the roof slope on the south side of Number 2, and two late 19th-century casement windows on the ground floor to the left. A late 20th-century opening was knocked through the frame to the right of centre. The north side has two gabled eaves dormers with a 20th-century gabled brick porch below on the right; a blocked doorway is located in the angle with Number 1, and there is a red brick ridge stack directly above it, along with a side stack to the right. Number 1 has one late 19th-century casement window with a segmental head to the right on the ground floor, with a late 20th-century fixed window above a boarded door to the left of centre. A gabled dormer is present in the roof slope to the right. The interior of Number 2 reveals a richly moulded cross-beam ceiling with run-out stops, likely dating from the early 16th century. There are two true cruck trusses with cambered collars, curved wind braces, and Alcock apex types A and F2 (one immediately to the west of an inserted stack, chamfered and arch-braced), also showing significant smoke blackening. A section of the north-east cruck blade on the ground floor has been cut away and a carved, moulded post (probably from the early 17th century) has been joined to it. The interior of Number 1 was not inspected but is noted to have a chamfered cross-beam ceiling in the ground-floor north room and a double-purlin roof, with the ends of the purlins exposed externally. The pitch of the roof has been raised.