The Oak House

The Oak House is a building that was originally a courthouse or wool hall, converted to domestic use in the late 16th century or later. It was restored around 1930 by architect Col Elliot. The structure features a close-studded timber frame with plastered panels and 20th-century red brick nogging at the ground floor, topped by a plain tiled roof. There is a ridge stack positioned to the right of center, an end stack on the right side, and a rear stack that has been rebuilt or partly rebuilt, all adorned with dentil brick cornices.

The house has two storeys with inserted attic floors and consists of five original equal bays. These are divided by a closed truss into two rooms on each floor, with three bays in the south rooms and two in the north. The rebuilding of the west wall may indicate the presence of a former wing or staircase.

On the street elevation, there is a gable end jetty to the left. The main entrance is located in the second bay from the south and features a plank door. The ground floor has four and the first floor has five iron casement windows from around 1930, all with leaded lights.

Inside, the house boasts double ogee-moulded cross beams and defaced corbels on the posts of the main south room. The cambered tie beams are supported by hollow-chamfered solid braces and feature octagonal crown posts that are braced to the collar purlin, while the north room has plain crown posts and an unmoulded tie beam. Paintings that were observed in the south room in 1951 are no longer visible, and 16th and 17th century oak panelling has been reset.