Old High Hall

Old High Hall is a multi-phased vernacular house that originated in the late 15th or early 16th century and was extensively remodelled in the first half of the 17th century.

The building is timber framed and rendered, with a steep pitched roof of thatch featuring an ornamental block ridge, hipped to the rear. The plan dates to the mid-17th century, when the present lobby-entry arrangement replaced an earlier cross passage.

The principal elevation faces south, parallel to Back Lane. It is two storeys high with a trapezoidal eyebrow dormer at attic level. A diagonally shafted brick chimney stack runs through the elevation, with a late 20th century thatched porch aligned with it. On the left of the porch is the parlour bay, featuring multi-light timber casement windows at ground and second floor. To the right of the porch are the hall and service end bays, each with multi-light timber casements of varying spacing and sizes.

The gabled west elevation has pentice boards marking the top of the ground and first floors, with small casement windows at first floor and attic level. The rear (north) elevation also has an eyebrow dormer and an irregular configuration of casement windows. At ground floor, 20th century French doors open from the parlour bay, next to a small arched window that forms part of the fireplace. A single-storey former dairy or bakehouse extends north from the 17th century service end, with a hipped thatch roof, brick chimney stack, low eaves, and 20th century casement windows on each elevation.

The interior follows a 17th century lobby entry plan with the former parlour at the west end, the floored hall at the centre, and the service end to the west. The building's construction phases are evident in the timber framing, particularly between the parlour and hall bays. Scars in the timbers mark the original location of a cross passage at the east end of the hall, former twin doorways into the service end, and an original stair in the south-east corner of the house. A 20th century replacement staircase now occupies a similar position closer to the hall.

The most significant interior feature is the brick chimney aligned with the present entrance. Originally exposed all the way to the roof, it is now interrupted by the first floor structure. The wide hearth is splayed on each side, with a small arched window on the right, possibly originally a seating niche. The mantle beam is embattled with two tiers of carved crenelations. Three trefoil arches appear in the brickwork of the chimney stack where it continues into the first floor chamber, now truncated by the floor structure. Part of the rear side of the fireplace is exposed in the parlour, where six original arched niches form a decorative feature. An original brick wall attached to the south side of the chimney facing the hall has been used to form the back of a 20th century fireplace in the parlour.

The original brick wall continues for a short distance on the south side of the stack in the hall. In the parlour, a 20th century fireplace has been introduced against the back of this brick wall, though this may originally have been the location of a narrow staircase. The mid-17th century north extension retains its original frame and roof structure, with original mullions of a blocked window surviving on the north wall. The fireplace here incorporates an older lintel and jambs, though the brickwork of the stack is 19th century.