15, 17 AND 19, CHURCH STREET

This is a row of three cottages located on Church Street in Great Shelford, possibly originally a guildhall. The core of the building dates to the early to mid-16th century. It was converted into a house and re-roofed in the mid-to-late 17th century, and then subdivided into three cottages in the early 19th century.

The building is timber framed, with some parts rendered, and has a hipped roof covered in plain tiles. A gault brick ridge stack is contemporary with the roof. The building is a single range of four bays, with the first floor jettied out over the road. The jetty beam has no decoration and rests on four jetty brackets. Original wall bracing is not visible. The timber framing and layout resemble the Guildhall at Whittlesford in Cambridgeshire. The window and door openings all date from the early 19th century subdivision, with four horizontal sliding sash windows containing small panes of glass. The original positions of two windows are visible on the front of the building, and one on a gable end. There are three early 19th century doorways with boarded doors; the central doorway is likely on the site of the original entrance.

Inside, the house has consistently had floors. The two central bays feature a ceiling with substantial, flat-laid, unmoulded joists. The intersecting chamfered main beams have run-out stops. The brickwork of the inglenook hearth obscures the stop of a main beam, suggesting either the hearth was rebuilt or inserted when the guildhall was converted to a house. A shutter groove for a window is visible in the rear wall of the ground floor central room. On the first floor, chamfered, cambered tie beams are visible, and they are arch braced. The roof is a staggered butt purlin structure with slender timbers, typical of the late 17th century.