The Compasses

The Compasses is a house dating from the 15th century, with alterations made in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is timber framed, roughcast rendered, and has a roof covered with interlocking concrete tiles. The building has three bays facing west and features an external stack at each end, along with a 20th-century flat-roofed extension at the rear of the right end. It is one storey high with attics, and has two 19th-century casement windows, as well as three 19th or early 20th-century casements in gabled dormers. The entrance door is from the 20th century.

Inside, much of the ground floor is hidden by modern finishes, but some original features are visible, including two chamfered arched braces supporting the central tiebeam of the former hall and the chamfered transverse beam of an inserted floor from around 1600. The upper right room, which is part of the former hall, has exposed framing with jowled posts, heavy studding, a cambered tiebeam, and a crownpost roof. The central crownpost is supported by wide four-way bracing, and the roof is complete and smoke-blackened.

In the 19th century, the building was converted into a pair of cottages, each with its own external stack and separate stair. This arrangement has been retained, although the property is now a single house again, which has helped preserve the central tiebeam of the former hall. The Compasses was associated with a farm of 32 acres, owned and occupied by Samuel Dennis, as recorded in the tithe award of 1841.