Ducklake

Ducklake is a house believed to originate from the late 15th or early 16th century, formed by the joining of two hall houses in a long range. The north section dates to the 15th century, while the south section is of 16th-century origin. The house is timber-framed with roughcast walls and plain tile roofs. It has two storeys and originally eight bays, with three bays on each side joined around 1600. The east elevation features eight windows; a mix of early 19th-century flush sash windows and, centrally, 17th-century leaded casements. A central fielded panel door, dating to the early 19th century and with a flat hood supported by scrolled brackets, is present. The south gable end incorporates a large Venetian sash window added in the 1930s by Sir Albert Richardson. The house is divided internally into two sections of identical size by an unusual, skewed transverse frame. In the first room from the south on the ground floor, a good 16th-century wall painting decorates the studwork and an ogee-headed door frame; it is a free geometrical design with a scrollwork frieze displaying classical grotesques holding cartouches.