1716 HOUSE

This house, known as 1716 House, was originally divided into three cottages and dates from the early to late 17th century. It features a mantel beam carved by Thomas Toft around 1660 and incorporates the structure of a medieval building. The date 1716 was previously inscribed on the front elevation when two cottages were combined at the southwest to form an L-plan layout. The building is timber-framed and plastered, topped with thatched roofs and a plastered plinth. It has a red brick ridge stack with two diagonal shafts and a rear stack. The house is two storeys high with cellars, and it has three horizontal sliding sash windows on both the ground and first floors. There is a four-panelled door located in the lobby entry position, with a fixed light window to the right blocking an earlier door.

Inside, one truss remains at the tie beam height of the earlier building, along with reused floor joists and stop-chamfered ceiling beams. A remnant of linen fold panelling was recorded by Dr. Palmer in 1912. The carved mantel beam at the stack was made by Thomas Toft, who served as church warden around 1660, and the cellar may date from the same period, constructed of stone and brick. There is also a sealed mullioned window in the west wall. The Toft family owned the property from 1651 to 1847.