Birbecks

Birbecks is a house dating from the mid 16th century to the early 17th century. It is timber-framed and rendered, topped with a gabled tiled roof. The house has two storeys and features an off-centre ridge stack with grouped diagonal shafts and early 17th century moulded barge-boards. The front elevation displays three 3-light casements on the first floor above two 3-light casements and one single-light casement, all with leaded lights. A small gabled porch from the 20th century, which has exposed framing, is located at the front. The rear elevation includes a catslide lean-to at the southern end with a tall stack, a large flat-roofed rear extension, and a 20th-century conservatory. The first floor has three 3-light leaded casements.

The current structure is based on an in-line hall house from the early to mid 16th century, featuring long internal wall bracing. In the early to mid 17th century, the house was raised to a full two storeys by adding short jowled posts over the original wall plates and was slightly extended to the north. Inside, the layout and structure are somewhat confused, but some floor joists are chamfered and belong to the earlier phase. The entrance passage at the rear of the porch has a brick-paved floor. The early 17th century stack includes one ground floor and two first floor arch-headed fireplaces, each with a mantel shelf made of moulded brick and tile. The ground floor fireplace has a salt cupboard and contemporary panelled doors on each side. The stairs rise in front of the stack in an American colonial style, with moulded balusters that are contemporary with the later phase or slightly later. A corner cupboard in the northern ground floor room features an elliptical arch, fluted pilasters, and serpentine shelves.