Croft House

Croft House

This is a house dating from the 15th century, substantially altered and extended over time. It is timber-framed with exposed timbers visible along the front elevation, while the sides and rear are rendered. The roof is thatched with a half-hipped form.

The building comprises a 3-cell arrangement with a former open hall. Close studding with tension braces defines the upper storey, though the ground storey contains considerable later studding. Various casement windows of 19th and 20th-century date are present. The upper floor retains 2 original windows, one at the extreme left with diamond mullions still in place, alongside secondary openings of which some are blocked. A doorway to the right occupies the position of a cross-entry and contains a 18th-century 6-panel door with 2 glazed upper panels. A 20th-century open porch, gabled and thatched, now covers this entrance. At the rear is an original arched doorway fitted with a 20th-century door. The internal chimney stack carries 2 attached shafts set diagonally.

The interior retains substantial evidence of its medieval origins. Exposed studding with traces of various diamond-mullioned windows is visible throughout. The hall features a fine open truss with massive braces to the tie beam forming a 4-centred arch, plank spandrels, and an octagonal crown-post with moulded base and cap and 4-way bracing at the head. All roof timbers in the hall are heavily sooted from long use. The lower end wall of the hall is intact and contains a pair of hollow-chamfered 4-centred arched service doorways.

The 2-bay parlour has a knee-braced bridging beam (one brace renewed) and heavy plain joists. Seven joists in the centre of the room are trimmed short of the gable end with no original framing underneath; this appears to be original work but its purpose is unclear. The parlour chamber has an open truss that has been altered, with the tie beam replaced by cruck-like timbers supporting a new tie-beam at a higher level. This now carries the shortened octagonal crown-post, which retains its moulded cap and 4-way bracing. The remainder of the roof is intact, and part of an earlier thatch base coat (fleeking) is visible.

A late 16th-century inserted floor in the hall features heavy cross-beams with nicked stepped stop-chamfers and chamfered joists with bar stops. The studded screen against the cross-passage dates from the 16th or 17th century. A chimney stack was inserted in the upper bay of the hall in the 17th century, which includes a large open fireplace with an original lintel and a late 17th-century cupboard to one side. The parlour fireplace was rebuilt in the mid 20th century. Against the stack stands a 17th-century newel stair with a carved finial to the newel post.