Chancel House and Church House

A pair of houses, dating from the early 18th century, with later 19th and 20th century alterations. The ground floor is built of Flemish bond brick, while the first floor is timber-framed and clad with peg-tile on the end walls and mathematical tiles on the front. Brick stacks and chimney shafts rise through the roof, which is covered in peg-tiles.

The houses were designed as a pair of contemporary, mirror-image cottages facing east, with Chancel House to the south and Church House to the north. Each house originally had two principal rooms: a parlour in the centre and a dining room at the end. Access is through a small, internal porch into the parlour, which is heated by a rear lateral stack. Stairs are located alongside this stack. The dining rooms both have gable-end stacks. Rear extensions provide service areas, with a shared axial stack in the party wall between the kitchens. Both houses are two storeys high with attics and have single-storey, lean-to extensions at the rear.

The front of the houses has a symmetrical appearance with five windows. The windows are late 19th century, with four panes to each sash. The front doors are paired, both set within early 18th century frames, and are sheltered by a shared flat-roofed hood with moulded edges. Original timber eaves cornices include modillion brackets. The roof is a Mansard, with sprockets at the front and rear, extending over the rear service outshots and featuring a gable end. Two flat-roofed dormers light the attics. Casement windows are found in the gable ends, with one in the right-hand gable (Church House) containing two original windows with diamond-paned leaded glass.

The interior of Chancel House, which was inspected, is expected to be similar throughout both properties. The front rooms have exposed axial beams, which are chamfered with run-out stops. In the parlour, the rear of the original brick fireplace is visible behind a replacement chimneypiece. The joinery has a plain design. The original roof structure is largely plastered, but staggered butt purlins are visible between the trusses.

These are a well-preserved pair of modest early 18th century houses within a good group of listed buildings near the Church of St Mary.