Charity Cottages

Charity Cottages is a row of cottages dating from the 15th to 16th century. The structure is timber framed with part of the close studding exposed, featuring large panel framing on the left return, all with plaster infill. The building is partially tile hung and underbuilt with red brick, topped by a plain tiled roof. Originally a four-framed bay hall house, it has a jettied cross-wing and a framed rear wing, making it an impressively large framed building in its current state.

The cottages stand two storeys high on a plinth, with a jetty to the right supported by moulded brackets and featuring a moulded bressummer. The roof is hipped with gablets on the left and transverse, and a projecting hip on the right. There are stacks on the left, a moulded and clustered stack to the centre right, and an offset and moulded stack to the rear left. Blocked mullioned windows are arranged under the eaves of the left-hand bays, while the jettied wing has unblocked windows. Each floor features an irregular arrangement of five wooden casements, along with blocked moulded mullioned windows on the jettied wing. The doors are boarded, with one on the left, one in the centre with a flat hood, and one on the right. The size, quality, and layout of the building, along with its long ranges of eaves-windows, suggest a connection to the medieval cloth trade.