Bibury

The house at Bibury, Mountnessing, principally dates to the mid-16th century, although part may be of earlier origin, with extensions added in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is timber-framed and has a complex exterior, incorporating roughcast render, plaster, weatherboarding, and red brick cladding, with a roof of handmade and machine-made red clay tiles. The main range is two bays wide, facing west, with the left bay serving as an entrance passage, and a two-bay cross-wing projecting forward to the right. An 18th-century internal stack is located at the junction of the ranges. A single-storey wing from the 19th century stands to the rear centre, with an axial stack, and lean-to extensions on either side; the left extension forms a catslide roof with the main range. A 20th-century conservatory is attached to the right of the cross-wing. All windows are 20th-century casements, with a plain boarded door within a wide gabled porch. The cross-wing is jettied to the front, supported by two roughcast-rendered brackets, and has a gablet hip to the rear.

The interior of the main range reveals a floor dating to around 1600, featuring a chamfered axial beam, chamfered vertical-section joists with lamb’s tongue stops, and a clasped purlin roof of a similar date. Some smoke-blackened rafters from a medieval open hall are incorporated into this roof, though it is unclear whether the floor represents a survival from a medieval house or a rebuilding in the 16th century. Walls of a ground-floor room are matchboarded, dating from around 1900. The hearths have been re-pointed with lime mortar. The cross-wing displays heavy close studding with "Suffolk" braces and jowled posts, along with a chamfered binding beam with step stops, and plain horizontal-section joists jointed with soffit tenons exhibiting diminished haunches, indicating construction between 1510 and 1565, likely closer to the later date. Within the right girt are three diamond mortices of a former unglazed window, a groove for a sliding shutter, and shortened diamond mullions above. A similar window is found at the rear on the first floor, now blocked. A rebated corner post reveals the outline of an original door opening into the cross-wing, suggesting it was originally the parlour/solar wing of a medieval house; a broken pintle hinge remains visible in the rebate. The cross-wing has a complete crownpost roof with a chamfered collar-purlin with step stops, and three axial braces. Reused smoke-blackened rafters from a medieval open-hall roof are incorporated.