Joys Cottages

House, later divided into 2 cottages. Circa mid to late 15th century origins, altered in the 19th century. Timber-framed construction, underbuilt in brick on the ground floor with tile-hung first floor; rear block brick to the ground floor with weatherboarded first floor; brick stacks.

The house originated as a late medieval open hall, with the main hall truss surviving at least to tie-beam level in the party wall between the two cottages. A single-depth main range, 4 rooms wide with an axial stack and end stacks, with a later service block added at the rear, heated by 4 rear lateral stacks. The south cottage is 2 rooms wide; the right-hand room is heated and possibly an extension, with most of the carpentry being 20th century work.

Two storeys. The front elevation is almost symmetrical with 5 windows (4 to the ground floor). Each cottage is double-fronted with a 19th-century plank door with a porch hood on upward-curving brackets. Windows are 2- and 3-light 19th-century casements with 6 panes per light. The roof is half-hipped at the left end and gabled at the right end. The axial stack has a staggered handmade brick shaft to the front of the ridge with a corbelled brick cornice; end stacks have plain shafts.

Interior: The left-hand room of the south cottage has massive closely-spaced joists and a crossbeam. The right-hand room has replaced ceiling beams and a 20th-century fireplace. The party wall with the north cottage has massive arch braces to the tie-beam with hollow mouldings, the tie-beam also being moulded on the soffit.

Details of the north cottage's plan remain unclear due to limited access at the time of survey. The roof space was not inspected, but the north cottage is thought to have a crown-post roof construction.