Martin's Nest

House. Dating from the 16th century, it is timber framed and has been roughcast rendered, with a roof of handmade red clay tiles. The house has four bays facing southwest, with a large axial stack located one bay from the left end. It is a single storey building with attics. There are three 20th-century casement windows, and one more within a gabled dormer. A 20th-century door gives access.

The interior features jowled posts and longitudinal plain joists of a horizontal section in both end bays. A floor appears to have been inserted into the two middle bays, supported by a transverse beam and longitudinal joists of a horizontal section on pegged clamps. An original straight staircase has modern treads and risers. A scarf joint in the front wallplate shows edge-halving and bridling, with other splinted details. Original rebated floorboards remain. A large wood-burning hearth has been reduced for a 19th-century coal grate.

An unusual feature on the upper floor is the removal of one tiebeam between the right-end bay and the middle part, with a replacement inserted that arches upwards to allow an inserted doorway to remain unobstructed. This doorway has a 17th-century ledged door made of three plain boards with an original wooden handgrip. The roof structure is inaccessible. Evidence suggests the house was originally built with the two middle bays open to the roof, perhaps with a timber-framed chimney. In the early 17th century, a floor was inserted, the new doorway created, and the brick stack built.