Fairfield Lodge

Fairfield Lodge is a house with a complex history, originally built in the mid-16th century. It was initially a two-bay structure with a cross-passage plan, oriented with a gable end to the road. In the early 17th century, a wing was added to the left, transforming the plan into a hall and crosswing layout with a lobby-entry. The crosswing is timber-framed and has plaster rendering, topped with a steeply pitched tile roof and a gablet at the rear. A large ridge stack, which has been cut down, is situated at the junction between the crosswing and the hall. The windows on the gable end and side wall are modern casements. The hall, also dating from the early 17th century, is timber-framed with plaster rendering, the gable end to the left having been rebuilt in gault brick. It has three modern casements and a modern door in the original doorway of the early 17th-century lobby-entry. Internally, the original plan of the two-bayed 16th-century house remains. Within the service area, the partition wall between the buttery and pantry is intact, as are the two service doorways leading off the cross-passage, one retaining its original arched head. The opposing entries to the cross-passage have been blocked, and a staircase inserted, but a screen from the early 17th century remains, featuring square sunken panelling and a strapwork frieze. The hall contains an original quartered floor frame with moulded and leaf-stopped main beams, and an original hearth made of clunch. Curved bracing is visible between the jowled posts and tie-beams. A pair of posts, unjowled and without a tie-beam, form an intermediate bay in the service end. The roof is of side purlin construction, built with substantial materials, and has straight wind braces between rafters and purlins. The early 17th-century wing comprises two bays, with a brick hearth that abuts the 16th-century hearth. The floor joists rest upon a chamfered clamp, and the main beam is chamfer stopped. On the first floor, bracing is visible between posts and tie-beams, along with a middle rail or side girth approximately three feet below the wall plate. The roof of this wing is also of side purlin construction but is lighter in construction and lacks wind bracing.