The Paddock

The Paddock is a house, formerly a public house, dating from the 16th century or earlier, with alterations made in the 17th century and early 19th century additions. It operated as a public house until 1913. The building is long, two storeys high, and has a timber frame facing west. The rear wall is part weatherboarded and part panelled with decorative fan-pargetting. The north gable has an internal chimney rebuilt in red brick in the early 19th century, with the front wall also faced in the same brickwork. The roof is steep, covered in old red tiles, gabled to the north and hipped to the south. A single-storey, lean-to extension with a slate roof is located at the north end of the front, with pargetting on the west and red brick on the south wall. A bakehouse with a low slate roof and a pantiled south portion is situated at the northeast corner. There is an external north gable chimney and an external lateral chimney on the rear wall.

The building’s original plan consisted of three units, with the service area at the north end. A head mortice indicating a diamond mullioned window and a shutter groove are visible on the west wall of the north bay. Shutter grooves are also present for two windows on the east side. The structure was altered and floored throughout in the 17th century, incorporating axial main beams. Exposed close timbering is visible in the partition at the south end of the hall, and decorative plasterwork on the ceiling in the same bay features two large lozenge motifs with a palmette border, a rose, and hearts. An early 19th century partition divides the ceiling and corridors, and the front extension was likely built at the same time for use as a public house.

The west front has three windows and a central door, featuring Yorkshire sliding casements—three-light on the ground floor and two-light above. The north extension has a blocked door and a window on each side. Inside, a 18th-century corner cupboard is located in the room with the decorative ceiling. An old stable-type door leads into the northeast lean-to. First-floor features include a straight tension brace in the rear wall, a straight wind brace at the north end, jowled posts from the original north bay (with the tie beam removed), long curved braces to the tie beam of the next bay, and an 18th-century lattice window at the rear of the north bay. The south gable end of the house was extended by the depth of the chimney when it was rebuilt in the 19th century. A straight tension brace is visible in the rear wall, and a straight wind brace is present at the north end. The house is part of a picturesque group within a conservation area.