Castlebury

Castlebury is a farmhouse, now a house, dating from the 17th century or earlier, with alterations made around 1700 and 1800. The building was doubled in size and faced in Hitch's patent brick during the mid-19th century. The older western range is timber-framed and covered in painted Hitch bricks, while the parallel eastern range at the rear is entirely constructed from Hitch bricks. The steep roof is now slated, with the rear slope extended at a flatter pitch over the eastern range.

This long, two-storey building faces west and features a four-unit central chimney plan, with an external cable chimney on the north side. The asymmetrical west front has four windows. The upper floor has flat arched three-light casement windows, while the ground floor features segmental arched three-light windows with labels above. A pilastered doorcase from around 1800, topped with a bracketed flat hood, has reeded mouldings and a half-glazed flush panelled door.

Inside, the building includes jowled bay-posts, a clasped-purlin roof, and a chamfered axial beam with ogee stops. There are several cast iron basket grates with relief ornament from around 1800. The cast iron casements with small panes likely date from the same period as the large buff or red Hitch bricks, which were patented by Cabb Hitch of Ware in 1828 and used in the local area.