Charity Cottage

Charity Cottage is a late 16th-century house located in Ilketshall St. Margaret. Originally built as a two-storey and attic structure, the original upper ceilings were removed, leaving it as a two-storey building. The house is timber-framed and has been rendered with painted mock framing on the exterior. It has a thatched roof with a plain, square chimney stack. Modern leaded-paned casement windows and a door are present, along with an enclosed porch built of old red bricks and featuring crow-stepping. A 20th-century extension, with a mansard roof, was added to the east end.

The internal frame is arranged in five bays, including a chimney bay, and follows a two-cell lobby-entrance plan. Ground-floor rooms feature exposed ceilings with plain, unchamfered joists, main beams with a 2½" chamfer and curved stops, and repaired open fireplaces. The roof structure includes principal rafters and is ceiled off just below purlin level. The roof trusses incorporate short, straight braces, with some removed, and none within the two trusses of the chimney bay, featuring main posts with slight jowl. Cranked braces are visible at the corners of the long and side walls at the west end. Squint-butted scarf joints are present in both wallplates. While there's significant replacement studding, the main frame remains largely original.