Top House

Top House is part of a house dating from the 15th century, with alterations in the 16th, 18th, and 20th centuries. It is timber framed and plastered, with a roof of handmade red plain tiles. The original layout comprised a three-bay hall facing northeast, with the left bay originally being a cross-passage incorporating a gallery above. An 18th-century stack is located in the cross-passage, positioned in front of the building’s axis, while a 19th-century stack sits at the rear of the right bay. A 20th-century parallel range has been added to the rear, with a roof of interlocking concrete tiles.

The house has two storeys. On the ground floor, one early 19th-century sash window with 10 lights and crown glass, and one 20th-century replica are present. The first floor has two early 19th-century sashes, each with 12 lights. A central 6-panel door, with the top two panels glazed, is set within an early 19th-century reeded doorcase featuring a moulded flat canopy. The interior includes a moulded plaster cornice and a plain parapet.

Inside the hall, a 16th-century floor has been inserted, alongside an axial beam with step stops, with mostly replaced joists that are now of plain vertical section. A 17th-century ceiling was inserted over the first floor, featuring a chamfered axial beam with lamb's tongue stops, with joists plastered to the soffits. The roof of the hall is heavily smoke-blackened and originally constructed with crownposts. Surviving features include the rafters, collars, a spere truss, and the gallery over the cross-passage with transverse plain joists. Further features include the original rear doorway with a four-centred head, twin service doorways with chamfered four-centred heads (now blocked by the stack), and retained rafters and collars. In November 1986, the building was combined with the adjacent property (number 9/263) and doorways were created through to the crosswing, which originally formed part of Top House.