Smilax House

Smilax House is a pair of terraced houses, originally built as one, dating from the 15th or early 16th century. The left side features a crosswing, while the right side has a rebuilt hall range from the late 16th century. The exterior was refronted in the late 19th century. The building has two storeys and is timber-framed, encased in red brick from the late 19th century, with a moulded band at the first floor and a dentil course at the eaves. The roof is covered with plain tiles, and No. 14 has pierced ridge tiles. There are red brick chimneys at either end. The houses have 19th-century sash windows, with segmental heads on the ground floor (No. 12 features 20th-century casements in the original openings). The doorways are also from the 19th century, each topped with a moulded brick pediment and a terracotta festoon. No. 14 has a six-panelled door from the 19th century, while No. 12 has a four-panelled door from the 20th century. The crosswing consists of two bays and likely extended further back until the 19th century, originally containing twin service rooms with a chamber above. The original coupled rafter roof is now within the 19th-century roof. In the early 17th century, the service rooms were combined to create a parlour, featuring a fine plaster ceiling with moulded panels decorated with motifs of roses, acorns, and fleurs-de-lys. Both houses display exposed unmoulded late 16th-century structures on the first floor of the hall range, which was extended to the rear and given a two-span roof in the late 19th century.