Old Cryals

Old Cryals is a farmhouse of outstandingly interesting architectural complexity, with origins dating to the early 14th century or earlier, a circa early 15th-century addition or remodelling, and alterations from the late 16th century. The building is constructed in timber frame, with the ground floor partly underbuilt in brick and the first floor tile-hung. It has a peg-tile roof and brick chimney stacks.

The house faces west and currently consists of a single-depth main block of unusual depth, three rooms wide, with a deep outshut at the south end and a rear left wing at right angles. The two centre rooms are heated by adjacent axial stacks, whilst the rear wing has an end stack.

The core of the building, from the southern axial stack to the right end outshut, comprises a circa early 14th-century open hall house of two bays, probably originally entered via a passage at the south end. The roof was of scissor-braced construction, possibly combined with crown posts. One closed scissor-braced truss remains in place at the south end. The two existing bays were originally open to the roof timbers from end to end. In the circa early 15th century, a one-and-a-half bay block was added at the north end. This is storeyed and jettied to the front, with a crown post roof construction and separately framed first floor. It provided a ground floor room with an intersecting beam ceiling. In the late 16th century, a stack was inserted at the north end of the early 15th-century block and the open hall was floored. The quality of the hall chimney-piece reflects the building's continuing high status at this date. Probably at the same time, the early 14th-century roof was remodelled: the crown posts were removed and replaced with a clasped purlin arrangement, re-using the rafter couples from the scissor-braced roof. The rafters were re-set onto new wall plates and re-pegged at the apex. A second stack was inserted to heat both ground and first floor rooms in the north end block. These alterations probably included a lobby entrance on the west side, which remains the location of the front door. The south end outshut is difficult to date, with most visible timbers being reused. The rear left wing is probably 19th century. In circa 1930, the north end block was divided into two ground floor rooms, the house was re-windowed, and a porch was added to the lobby entrance.

The exterior presents two storeys with an asymmetrical five-window front. The roof is gabled at both ends of the main block, with a long lean-to roof over the right end outshut. The house is jettied to the front at the left end. A circa 1930s gabled porch stands left of centre, featuring an oak door with strap hinges flanked by one-light windows with diamond leaded panes. Five first floor and four ground floor casement windows, dating to circa 1930, have two and three lights with diamond leaded panes. A blocked doorway is evident in the brickwork of the front elevation to the right of the main block, opposed to a 20th-century door on the rear elevation, likely marking the site of the medieval cross passage. The rear elevation has 20th-century casement windows.

The interior is rich in carpentry from the medieval and 16th-century phases. The late 16th-century hall features a massive ceiling beam on the long axis with bar stops and exposed joists. A spectacular carved oak chimney-piece, also late 16th century, displays an order of twist moulding on the lintel, moulded jambs, and twist-moulded spandrels. The north end room, now divided into two, retains an intersecting beam ceiling with step stops and exposed joists of massive scantling. Its fireplace has rebuilt jambs and a plain lintel.

The wall and crossframes of the medieval phases are well-preserved. The phase one frame displays massive wall posts with flared step-stopped jowls and step-stopped ties. Not all wall posts are visible; one supporting the main hall tie at the front appears to be a later replacement with a chamfered jowl. The main tie is arch-braced, with massive braces fixed by eight pegs each, incorporating a roll-moulding in the tie at the apex. The early 14th and 15th-century frames are difficult to distinguish on the first floor, but the left hand early crossframe appears to have had a symmetrical design of four tension braces at what is now first floor level. The jettied end's first floor contains a blocked fireplace, probably retaining a late 16th or 17th-century lintel. The tie supporting the north end crown post has short curved braces to the wall posts. The timbers visible in the south end outshut are mostly reused and incorporate the lintel or sill of a mullioned window.

The roof retains one scissor-braced rafter couple from the circa early 14th-century phase at the south end of the main block. This closed partition retains some of its original sooted infill, though much has been removed and replaced with later infill against the back side of the partition. One rafter sits on a pad. Beyond this, the roof is of late 16th-century clasped purlin design but re-uses the smoke-blackened rafters of the scissor-braced roof, with the braces removed. There are 18 rafter couples in total, mostly smoke-blackened but supplemented with presumably late 16th-century clean rafter couples. The sooted rafters have been re-pegged at the apex, where the halved joints alternate, and have clean pegs. Some have been turned through 90 degrees but all retain the slots for the former scissor braces. The rafters are set into a clean wall plate dating from the 16th-century phase. The top of the main hall tie retains a slot for a former crown post, as does the northern tie, which lies north of the inserted stack. The crown post roof over the north end consists of a plain post within the closed partition at the south end of this block. This lath and plaster partition is sooted on the hall side. The plain post has down-braces to the tie and had an up-brace to the collar purlin on the south side, removed when the southern axial stack was inserted. The freestanding crown post over the south end has four up-braces. The post is cruciform in plan with four fillets, one to the centre of each side, carved from the solid, and a chamfered base with broach stops.

Old Cryals represents an outstandingly interesting example of a house with unusually early origins, showing at least two medieval phases of evolution and a third, high-quality 16th-century phase of modernisation.