Dicken House

Dicken House

This is a timber-framed house with wattle and daub and plaster infilling, of early 16th-century origin. The north gable end is clad in colour-washed brick, with rendered stone wings to the rear. The roof is covered in red clay plain tiles with a Gault brick chimney stack.

The building follows a U-shaped plan. The principal range faces east and consists of a floored-over central hall flanked by jettied end chambers, with rear north and south wings. The space between the wings has been infilled with a 20th-century single-storey extension, and the south wing has a narrow 20th-century extension with a glazed roof added to the rear. There is also a small single-storey extension at the rear of the north gable end. These 20th-century extensions are not of special interest.

The two-storey house features a steeply pitched gabled roof with a brick stack on the south gable wall. The formerly recessed central section has been brought forward to the eaves but has retained curved braces carrying the wall plate. All windows on the east elevation are 20th-century leaded casements. The centrally placed 20th-century front door has a timber lintel and is flanked by small single-light leaded casement windows with a two-light casement above. The jettied end sections rest on a stone plinth and have three-light casements on the ground floor with two-light casements above. The ground-floor framing consists of studs with an arched brace from the sill beam on the inner side of the window and a tension brace on the outer side, repeated on the first floor from the jetty bressummer, which is carried by visible projecting joists. The rear elevation has leaded casements in the gable heads and large single-light 20th-century windows on the ground floor.

The ground floor has been substantially remodelled, resulting in the probable loss of much framing except for the front east wall frame and a cross frame between the south chamber and the former hall. Any other surviving timber framing is hidden behind plastered walls. The principal features of interest are in the south room, which has roughly hewn joists and wide floorboards. The south wall contains a late 16th-century fireplace with a timber four-centred arch and stone jambs. Removal of plaster on the north wall has revealed wattle and daub. The bridging beam running east-west in the rear extension has been taken from the first-floor frame. At the top of the south staircase is an 18th-century two-panelled door with H-L hinges.

The first-floor framing has survived to a much greater extent. In the south room, the south end forms a large cupboard which contained the fireplace, above which is a cambered tie beam. In the north internal wall are two studs, one of which is only partly exposed. The upper section of the original rear wall frame, part of which now forms the internal wall where the wings were added, is exposed at what was the south chamber end, with the wall plate and a tension brace intact. A rail between two studs possibly indicates the former position of a window. The cross frame between the south chamber and the floored-over hall has exposed studs and an arch brace on the west side. The struts between the tie beam and collar beam form panels with exposed wattle and daub. The bay division between this room and the north end chamber has been obscured by alterations. The east and west wall plates survive, and there is an inner hall wall plate on the east side, positioned directly underneath the tie beam, which is exposed on the south side of the room. Both roof pitches have exposed purlins and rafters, with wind braces on the south side; it is not known if those on the north side survive as this part of the roof is hidden behind plaster.

At the north end of the building, much less timber framing is visible, consisting mainly of the wall plate and tie beam in the north end wall. The two wings have coupled rafter roofs with purlins and collar beams. The king post roof over the main range has a collar yoke and is divided into three bays, with collars dividing each main bay into two smaller bays. The trusses dividing the main bays are closed and have wattle and daub partitions, with one panel missing on the northern partition. The butt purlins, one of which has been partly replaced, are said to be scarfed at the principal rafters.