Forge House

Forge House is probably a late 17th or early 18th century remodelling of an earlier house, extended and converted into a row of three cottages and a forge in the 19th century. The house is timber-framed, with a brick facade, tile-hanging above, and tile-hanging to the left gable end. Timber framing is exposed at the rear within rendered panels. A brick outshut is present. The roof is tiled with gabled ends, and there are brick gable end stacks. The original house likely had a two-room plan, with each room heated by a gable end stack. A doorway is positioned to the right of centre leading directly into the right-hand room, while a straight staircase is located on the left side of the central partition. An outshut is positioned behind the left-hand room, and a doorway in the left-hand end leads into a rear axial passage that was taken out of the left-hand room. Recent discovery of three wall posts approximately one metre above first floor level suggests an earlier structure, which was raised to a full two storeys in the late 17th or early 18th century. Reused timber from this earlier house is incorporated within the timber frame. The 19th-century outshut was likely added when the house was converted into a pair of cottages, and an adjoining range to the right, not included in the listing, comprised a third cottage and forge, also added in the 19th century. A wing was built onto the front of the right-hand cottage later in the 19th or early 20th century. The two left-hand cottages have recently been combined into a single house, named 'The Forge', while the right-hand cottage with its front wing and former forge are now a separate property. The house is two storeys and attic, exhibiting an asymmetrical four-window front. 19th-century two and three-light iron frame casement windows with small panes are visible. A small, later facsimile one-light casement is located on the first floor. A 20th-century plank door is positioned to the right of centre. The rear features a brick outshut on the right and exposed timber framing with rendered panels on the left. The right-hand room contains a chamfered axial beam with cyma stops, unchamfered joists, and a large brick fireplace with a large timber lintel bearing a carved chamfer. The left-hand room has a 20th-century chamfered ceiling beam. The first-floor chambers have chamfered axial beams; the right-hand beam features hollow step stops, while the left-hand beam is unstopped. The roof is a circa late 17th or early 18th century common rafter design, incorporating earlier timbers, including screen headbeams used as purlins and a wall plate serving as a principal.