Rufus Leo

This is a house dating to the late 14th century and the mid-16th century, with alterations made in the early 19th and 20th centuries. It is timber framed and plastered, with some painted brick and a roof covered in handmade red plain tiles. Originally a hall house, the building retains a 3-bay crosswing from the late 14th century which extends to the rear. To the right of the crosswing, separated by approximately 0.70 metre, is a 2-bay main range dating from the mid-16th century, originally 3 bays, with a late 16th-century stack to the right of the middle bay against the front wall. A rear extension exists for both the crosswing and the main range, with a catslide extension to the rear of the main range.

The front of the house has two early 19th-century sash windows on the ground floor, each with 16 lights. On the first floor, there is one similar sash, and two others with 4 and 8 lights respectively. A 20th-century door with a tiled canopy is located in the crosswing. The original doorway to the main range is set back within the wall jetty and features a Tudor arched head. A modern plaster inscription reading “Circa 1425” is set in an oval surround. A wrought-iron bracket, originally for an inn sign, is also present. The former service bay at the right end has been demolished, although the lower storey has been closed with painted brick.

Inside the crosswing, the heavy, horizontally sectioned joists are arranged longitudinally in the front bay to support an underbuilt jetty, and transversely in the other bays. Jowled posts are present, along with heavy studding and external bracing. Much of the rear wall studding has been removed. The walls have wattle and daub infill, with two exposed panels exhibiting different surface patterns. On the first floor, a groove for a sliding shutter is visible at the front, while the rear bay has a complete unglazed window with three diamond mullions and shutter grooves on each side. A chamfered tiebeam with step stops is present on the rear, although the tiebeam between the middle and front bays is missing, along with mortices indicative of deep arched braces. Each wallplate has a rare scarf, face-splayed with inclined abutments and three edge-pegs. The roof is a crownpost roof.

The main range has a full-length underbuilt jetty, which remains visible within the wall thickness of the right bay. Jowled posts are also present, and much of the rear studding has been removed. Diamond-shaped mortices for former unglazed windows are visible in the rear wallplate, while a shutter rebate is present in the front wallplate. A chamfered binding beam with step stops is present, along with a plain axial beam in the left bay, and horizontally sectioned joists jointed with soffit tenons. A large wood-burning hearth, largely rebuilt in the 20th century from late 16th-century materials, is located in the right bay. The crownpost roof features a chamfered crownpost with step stops on the left, and a plain surface on the right where it formerly backed onto a timber chimney. The cross-entry to the rear of the stack remains open, with its original doorway and Tudor arch. The service bay was likely removed in the 19th century as part of estate improvements and previously blocked the left end of the neighbouring property. The house operated as The Red Lion Inn until approximately 1970.