Crabtree

Crabtree is a late 16th century timber-framed house with a lobby entrance, which was altered around 1729. An outshut was added and the windows were changed in the 19th century. The exterior features a red brick front, combining Flemish and English bond on the ground floor, while the first floor is tile hung. The roof is tiled, hipped to the left and half-hipped to the right, and has a cruciform late 16th century brick chimneystack. The house has two storeys and three windows, with 19th century metal casements that have diamond panes and a simple doorcase. There is a gable and outshut at the rear. Inside, there are two large open fireplaces; the hall fireplace includes a salt cupboard and marks of a crane, along with a chamfered spine beam featuring a lamb's tongue stop. The parlour contains an 18th century cupboard, and one of the first floor bedrooms has an early 19th century duck's nest grate. The building was likely reroofed in 1729 and appears on a 1777 Cranbrook estate map as Holding Farm, serving as gamekeeper's cottages to the estate within living memory.