Maxes

House. Dating from the 18th century, with alterations in the 19th and 20th centuries. The house is timber-framed, with plaster and weatherboard cladding, and a slate roof. It comprises a main range facing southwest, with cross-wings at each end projecting forwards, each containing an internal stack. There are three further wings to the rear, of varying widths. The house has two storeys. The ground floor has two late 19th or early 20th century splayed bay windows with moulded plaster parapets. The first floor has three late 19th or early 20th century casement windows, all transomed and with Tudor style heads. Tudor style plaster labels are above the first-floor windows. A glazed porch sits between the projecting wings, incorporating double half-glazed doors and a balcony above with a wrought-iron railing. The roofs are low-pitched. The rear elevation has weatherboard cladding on the ground floor and plaster above. Inside, there is a late 18th century staircase at the rear of the entrance hall, with two slender turned balusters per step, and a wreathed and moulded mahogany handrail. While the internal framing is not exposed, the main range has an axial beam, and each cross-wing has a transverse beam, all of which have plaster mouldings. The ground-floor rooms have moulded plaster coving. The left ground-floor room contains an early 19th century recessed cupboard, and the right ground-floor room has a recess beside the fireplace with a semi-elliptical arch. The house was recorded as a cottage in 1733, and appeared on Chapman and Andre's map of 1777 as Marshes. It was enlarged by Richard Woods, a surveyor, shortly before 1791, along with the enclosure of 2 acres and 9 roods of common land, at which point it was renamed Maxes. A 1901 sale catalogue described it as Park House, with 5 acres of garden, and the name reverted to Maxes around 1970. At that time, a substantial extension to the left, including a belvedere, was demolished.