Thistledown

Thistledown is a house built in the 1590s, with extensions added in the 18th century. The building has a brick ground floor and a timber-framed first floor, where the frame is exposed with plastered infill. It features a hipped thatched roof and a clustered brick chimney stack from the 16th century. Originally, it was a three-bay house with a central chimney, a projecting eastern gable, and a contemporary lean-to. The western bay is a later addition, and both the rear addition and the western two bays of the roof were added in the 18th century. The house has two storeys and four windows, with 1920s casements that include leaded lights. There is a 20th-century gabled weather porch supported by rustic poles.

Inside, the ground floor includes a former kitchen with an open fireplace featuring a wooden bressumer, a mark of a crane, and some reused panelling above. The spine beam has a one-inch chamfer with lambstongue stops, and the joists are square in section. The former parlour also has an open fireplace with a wooden bressumer and a spine beam with lambstongue stops. On the first floor, the easternmost room has jowled posts, old floorboards, and a series of plank doors on pintle hinges. The roof features an 18th-century queen post structure with through purlins and a ridgepiece, along with a small door above the outshot that may have been used for storage, possibly as an apple loft.