The Four Horse Shoes

A cottage, likely dating from the 18th century, is located in The Street, Rickinghall Inferior. The building is constructed of flint rubble with red brick dressings, including brick quoins, and has tumbling gable parapets, moulded brick kneelers, and a diagonally cogged brick eaves course. The roof is plain clay tile, with gabled ends, and abuts an adjoining house on the right. Integral brick stacks with tall shafts are present at both gable ends. The original plan likely consisted of two rooms arranged in a line, with a central entrance and a similar room on the right, each with its own gable end stack. An outshut is located at the rear of the property, and it originally included a detached blacksmith's shop.

The two-storey exterior has an asymmetrical two-window frontage. Original window openings are defined by cambered brick arches and brick quoins that extend up to the eaves and down to the ground as decorative features. A doorway to the right of centre features a similar brick surround and a later plank door. The windows contain cross-mullion-transom frames of uncertain date. Small dormers, with sills level with the eaves and cambered, almost flat roofs, are positioned above each window, featuring 20th-century metal casements. The interior has not been inspected.

Historical records indicate the cottage was sold by William Houchin in 1719, and in 1823, it was described as a dwelling house and blacksmith shop. By 1868, it operated as a beerhouse named 'The Horse Shoes,' which still incorporated the blacksmith's shop.