Brook House

Brook House is a house dating from the early 16th century, with alterations made in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is timber framed and originally plastered, with a roof of handmade red plain tiles. A rear extension features a facade of blue bricks in header bond, with dressings of red bricks. The main range comprises four bays facing north, with an axial stack positioned in the second bay from the left end and a further stack to the rear of the right bay. A three-bay wing, dating to the 17th century with an axial stack to the rear right, connects to an 18th/early 19th century stable range to the right. A further early 19th century extension projects to the rear left, and a contemporary extension to the left of it was altered in the 20th century to include a flat roof and balcony. The house has two storeys and a cellar.

On the ground floor of the main range, there is one early 19th century sash window with 10+10 lights, two with 6+6 lights, and one blocked aperture, all using crown glass. The first floor has three early 19th century sash windows with 12 lights and one blocked aperture, also with crown glass. An early 19th century six-panel door, featuring flush lower panels, fielded upper panels, a reeded doorcase, and a moulded flat canopy with paterae on the soffit, provides access. A full-length jetty is present, with rusticated plaster below and ashlar above. Plain plaster is found elsewhere.

The early 18th century rear extension has a ground-floor sash window of 12 lights and two first-floor sashes, all with flat arches of gauged brick. A half-glazed door with marginal lights is also present. A moulded plaster eaves cornice is notable. Early 19th century cast iron railings, comprising 6 cruciform stanchions, return to the house on either side of the door and at each end.

Originally, the main range consisted of a two-bay single-storey ‘hall’ with a service bay to the right and a parlour/solar bay to the left. These bays have been rearranged in the 17th or 18th century to create a central entrance hall, with beams boxed and partition walls no longer aligning with bay divisions. The left-hand ground-floor room is lined with bollection-moulded oak panelling, with a matching fireplace surround and curved rear splays to the hearth. A large wood-burning hearth, altered, faces to the right. Jowled posts are visible. Timber construction includes edge-halved and bridled scarfs in wallplates. In the upper wall at the rear, a blocked unglazed window with three diamond mullions is present, and shutter grooves can be seen in the wallplate. The ceiling, inserted around 1600, features chamfered axial beams with lamb's tongue and notch stops. The roof is a complete crownpost roof with axial braces 0.03 metre wide, where the collar-purloin has been severed to accommodate the inserted stack. Original lime plaster with simple incised patterns remains on the right gable.

The first-floor room of the early 18th century rear extension is entirely lined with original pine panelling, with matching doors. The rear right wing reveals chamfered beams with lamb's tongue stops and plain vertical section joists, along with a large wood-burning hearth facing forwards. The rear tiebeam has been raised 0.60 metre. An 18th century lead pump, housed within an original wooden case, is also present, though its mechanism is partially dismantled. The property is linked to the adjacent item 9/117.