68, Birmingham Road

Number 68 on Birmingham Road is a house that dates back to the 16th century or early 17th century. It underwent alterations and extensions in the late 19th century and again around 1900 by Edward John Charles, who acquired the property at that time. Further changes were made in the late 20th century. The house is timber-framed with red brick infilling and a plinth, while the rear wings are made of painted brick. The roofs are covered with clay plain tiles and feature gabled ends, with brick stacks at the gable ends, one of which is partly rendered.

The house has a plan that includes two framed bays of a larger timber-framed range extending to the southwest. The central cross-passage and gable-end stacks are later additions. In the late 19th century, brick wings were added at the back, which were remodeled in the late 20th century during restoration.

The exterior is two storeys high with an attic and features an asymmetrical southeast front with two windows. It has large 20th-century casement windows, including a large canted bay window on the right side of the ground floor, and a 20th-century door at the center. The wall framing at the front has been restored, with brick infilling replaced. Notably, to the right of center, the storey-post has curved tension-braces connecting to the wall-plate, and there is a tall brick plinth. The rear northwest side features the remodeled 19th-century gabled painted brick wings.

Inside, the left room has a chamfered cross-beam without stops and a large later fireplace with an unchamfered bressumer and an early 20th-century chimneypiece. The right room has a chamfered axial beam with hollow-step stops at one end, while the other end is buried in a later chimney breast. It also features unchamfered joists and exposed wall framing at the rear, with a tall plinth. The rear wall framing is exposed above, showing a truncated wall-plate at the southwest end and jowled storey-posts. The two-bay roof includes king-post and tie-beam trusses, with curved principals and wind-braces at either end, purlins, and a square-set ridge piece. The central area has a principal-rafter and tie-beam truss, with tenoned purlins and a square-set ridge piece supported by king-posts, while the common rafters are ceiled. The interior features late 19th-century or early 20th-century joinery and a late 20th-century marble balustrade at the head of the stairs in the rear wing.