Old Post Office Cottages

A house dating from around 1400, altered in the 16th and 19th centuries, now divided into two cottages. The structure is timber-framed, with plastering, red brick facing in Flemish bond, and 20th-century brick in stretcher bond, all covered by a handmade red clay tile roof. Originally a 2-bay hall aligned north-south with a western aspect, it has two 2-bay crosswings. A small 17th-century 2-story extension projects from the north wing to the rear, and a 19th-century single-story lean-to extends to the north and east. There are external chimney stacks from the 18th and 19th centuries, with an additional internal chimney at the rear of the hall. The hall is single-story with attics, while the crosswings are two stories high. Both crosswings have jetties on the north side, supported by two plain brackets; the south jetty has been rebuilt with 20th-century brickwork. The hall itself is faced with 19th-century brickwork. The cottages have plain boarded doors, with No.1 featuring a 19th-century rustic porch with a tiled gabled roof. No. 1 has 2 20th-century casement windows on each floor, one of which sits within a gabled dormer. No. 2 has a late 17th-century casement window, heavily altered, a 19th-century cast iron casement window on the ground floor, and two more windows on the first floor, one also within a gabled dormer. The roofs of both crosswings are hipped at the rear. The 19th-century chimney stacks have two grouped diagonal shafts. The interiors retain original features, including doorways with 4-centred heads in No. 1 and an original partition between service rooms. The hall's central tiebeam is steeply cambered with deep arch braces, meeting in a cross-quadrate crownpost with broach stops. The wallplates are chamfered in two orders, with rebates for shutters. An inserted floor in the hall features a chamfered axial beam, chamfered joists with lamb's tongue stops, and original late 16th-century boards. The north (parlour/solar) crosswing has wide brackets to the binding beam, which is chamfered with step stops. The staircase in No. 2 has 17th-century flat balusters of an unusual serpentine profile. While roof access is not available, the lack of an axial chimney stack suggests all roofs are of crownpost construction and likely original.