Owls Hill House

House. Dating to the late 14th century, Owl’s Hill House has undergone alterations in the late 16th century, the 19th century, and the 20th century. It is timber framed and has been plastered, with a roof covered in handmade red clay tiles and slate. The house originally comprised a two-bay hall facing northeast, with a late 16th-century stack in the left bay against the rear wall. There is a single-storeyed service bay to the left and a two-bay parlour/solar crosswing to the right. 20th-century single-storey lean-to extensions are at the rear, with a corrugated asbestos roof.

The front elevation has two 20th-century casement windows, one early 19th-century sash window of 9 lights, and a splayed bay of 4-16-4 lights. The first floor has three early 19th-century sash windows, each of 9 lights. A 20th-century door is set within a gabled porch. The crosswing juts forward, supported by two plain brackets. The front half of the roof has been raised approximately one meter, with a low pitch and slate covering; the remainder of the roof retains its normal pitch and tile covering. The crosswing has a hipped rear. The stack features an ovolo-moulded cornice and rebuilt concertina shafts. The house has jowled posts.

Inside the hall, a complete service doorway has a two-centred arch of two durns with quadrant moulding, and part of an adjacent blocked doorway. A wide wood-burning hearth has an ogee-moulded mantel beam, the moulding mitred downwards at the ends, and is a reused timber-framed chimney with repaired brickwork at the back and left. A bread oven has an introduced iron door. An inserted floor in the hall has a chamfered axial beam with lamb's tongue stops and plain joists of vertical section, dating to the early 17th century. The timber framing exhibits edge-halved and bridled scarfs in the wallplates.

The crosswing includes a chamfered binding beam with mortices for former arched braces, and a shutter groove indicative of a former unglazed window at the front, as well as a cambered tiebeam. The central tiebeam of the hall is missing, and the front rafters are present but severed due to the raised front wall. Both roofs are heavily smoke-blackened, with a smoke vent at the rear of the crosswing; some original wattle and daub remains in the main roof between the hall and service bay. Both roofs have trenched collars, with no evidence of collar-purlins or crownposts. The service doorway is of unusual interest. The house retains a number of early features.