21 And 22, Chapel Lane

This is a house, originally divided into two dwellings, dating back to the 16th century, with subsequent builds in the 18th century, 1801, and a 20th-century extension. The construction is timber-framed, with some exposed framing, the majority rendered, along with brickwork and a mix of plain tile, slate, and shingle roofs. The plan is complex. Number 22 has two bays and two storeys, featuring a jettied long wall on both sides. A brick extension was added in 1801, followed by later additions. Number 21 is L-shaped, with two storeys; an earlier wing is set at right angles to number 22, partly enclosing it, and a later wing (incorporating a kitchen and bathroom) completes the block. Number 22 exhibits exposed close studding to the first floor, a rendered ground floor, and a plain tile roof with a gable at the northern end. The ground floor has single and two-light leaded timber casement windows, with a similar two-light window on the first floor. A small opening is visible to the return. The 1801 brick wing has two similar windows and a boarded door, and an axial stack sits between the two buildings. An external stack, dated 1801, is on the northernmost gable. Internally, the ground floor of number 22 extends beyond the former closed truss into number 21, revealing thinner timbers and a brick party wall. There are shutter grooves to former windows on both sides, and a surviving hinge on a window which was formerly a doorway. Further interior features include horizontal joists, narrow jowelled posts, a chamfered tie beam, and a wind braced clasped purlin roof. Number 21’s L-shaped layout comprises two, two-bay, two-storey wings. The east-west wing has a hipped and gabletted roof, crossed by a north-south wing with a hipped roof to the south and a gabled roof to the north. The south face includes a 20th-century extension with a three-light window and an added porch, obscuring original surfaces. Four small first-floor openings are present, two to each building, with single casements; one is a 20th-century insertion above the stairs. A thin external stack is on the left-hand return, alongside two small inserted ground-floor openings and a two-light first-floor timber casement. The right-hand return features scattered 20th-century casements. The rear elevation reveals a partial external stack rising from a single-storey extension which formerly housed a deep chimney and oven. The east-west wing's interior showcases close studding, chamfered beams, horizontal joists, altered openings, an arch-braced tie beam, and a wind-braced roof. The north-south wing features a roof with thinner scantling timbers.