14 Beacon Bottom

14 Beacon Bottom

A timber-framed house dating to the late 16th to mid-17th century. The building is constructed with small-panel timber framing, painted brick nogging, rendered panels, and multi-phase brick to the ground floor. The roof is covered in water-reed thatch.

The house has a two-bay lobby-entry plan on a south-west to north-east axis, with a third bay added to the south-west end. A porch is positioned to the south-east. The front range is single-storey with an attic, beneath a hipped thatched roof. All windows have been replaced with double glazing in the late 20th or early 21st century, though some retain earlier openings.

Much of the ground floor has been underbuilt in brick at various phases. The south-east elevation features an off-centre entrance aligned with the stack above, flanked by a 20th-century thatched timber-frame porch on a brick plinth. Further south, within the single-storey bay, are 20th-century French doors. On the first floor, visible timber framing includes straight diagonal wall bracing, posts, a girding beam, and wall plate. A pair of dormer windows has been inserted into the roof over the front elevation. The north-east elevation has a 20th-century oriel window. The north-west rear elevation of the main range retains exposed timber framing on both storeys, including the ground-floor mid rail, with original window openings containing later windows.

The water-reed thatch roof features a decorative ridge and a pair of thatch animal finials. The brick stack above the main range is covered in concrete render.

Internally, directly in front of the entrance is a substantial brick chimney with rooms on either side. The north-east room contains a central axial beam with deep ceiling joists; the former ground-floor rear wall at this end has been partly underbuilt in brick. The south-west side has a large fireplace rebuilt in modern brick and topped with a modern bressummer, facing into a room with an axial beam and deep ceiling joists with tenon joints. The beam is chamfered with partial survival of stepped stops at either end. Floorboards above are wider and earlier than those over the north-east end. At the south-west end, the former end wall has been removed at ground-floor level, with empty mortices visible in the surviving girding beam. Substantial timber posts have been added for support, and an additional transverse beam has been added to the girding beam's south side. Within the single-storey bay at the south-west end is a further axial beam with deep ceiling joists, some of which have been replaced. Metal straps and ties reinforce most ceiling beams on this side, with later timbers added elsewhere to support the timber frame. On the north-west side of the chimney is a 20th-century straight-flight staircase, likely in the position of an earlier staircase.

On the first floor, the brick chimney tapers to the roof, and the timber frame is visible internally, including the tops of several jowl posts. Evidence of at least one small section of historic wattle and daub survives behind later wall covering. A tie beam supports the hipped north-east end of the roof. A principal queen-post truss on the north-east side of the brick stack contains carpenter's marks; the tie beam has been cut through to create a doorway and only one queen-post is visible. A further principal truss stands over the south-west end, though most posts and bracing there have been replaced with later circular sawn wood. Beyond lies the roof over the single-storey bay. Within the partially ceiled attic are remains of a pair of clasped purlins, collars, principal rafters, and several pairs of common rafters. One principal rafter has an empty mortice which may have held a lost wind brace. The roof has been reinforced with later timbers and metal straps. Modifications include the removal of some rafters.

Several decorative 20th and 21st-century timbers have been added to internal walls at ground and first-floor levels. Openings have been made within the former rear wall of the main range on both floors.