Byway

Byway is a house that was formerly a farmhouse, dating from the mid or late 16th century. It has a three-cell cross-passage entrance plan and is two storeys high. The structure is timber-framed and rendered, with a cedar-shingled roof that was originally thatched. It features 17th-century gable and axial chimneys made of red brick. The front has early 20th-century small-pane casements and a glazed two-panelled entrance door.

Inside, there is good exposed timber framing, with close studding and high-quality first-floor members. The house originally had the typical twin service rooms off the cross-passage, which have since been altered. There are also twin rooms at the opposite end of the hall, each accessed by separate doorways that once had short plank-and-muntin draught-screens. On the hall partition wall, there is a black-letter inscription on three plaster infill panels between the studding, which includes the date 1639 and likely represents only a small part of the original decoration.

A hall chimney was inserted in the 17th century, backing onto the cross-passage, and another chimney was added to the gable, with the twin rooms converted into one parlour. The roof was rebuilt after a fire around 1960. There is a two-storey rear extension from the 20th century, but it is not of special interest.