The Malt House

The Malt House is a house with origins in the 15th century, primarily dating from the late 16th and 17th centuries. It is constructed of coursed limestone rubble and features a gabled stone slate roof, with 20th-century stone end and ridge stacks. The building has a three-unit plan, stands two storeys high, and has a three-window range. There are 20th-century timber lintels above a 20th-century door and casements. A gabled bay is present in the rear wall, along with a 20th-century rear extension. An L-plan wing, likely from the late 16th century, is attached to the left and is also made of limestone rubble with an artificial stone slate roof.

Inside, the bay to the right contains stop-chamfered beams and a late 16th-century moulded four-centred arched fireplace on the first floor. To the left, there are deeply-chamfered beams and lodging beams from a late 16th-century inserted floor, along with chamfered joists in the room to the left of the stack. Winder stairs lead from the first floor to the attic, which features a late 16th-century collar-truss roof with heavy principals, curved windbraces, and a former smoke bay. A wood bressumer is located over an open fireplace to the inserted stack on the left, and the collar-truss roof has two tiers with a cambered upper collar.

The house was built as a plague house for Durham Abbey in the late 15th century and was likely altered for Leonard Perrott, who leased it around 1550.