18 And 20, Rectory Lane

Numbers 18 and 20 on Rectory Lane are a farmhouse that has been converted into two cottages and is now a single dwelling. Likely built in the 17th century, the building has been altered over time. It features handmade brick that is painted white, with exposed timber-framing on the first floor and part of the rear wall, and has a red tiled roof with a brick chimney stack.

The structure has a three-unit plan, which may have originally included a lobby-entry at the junction, and has a large lean-to addition at the back of the right-hand side. It stands two storeys tall and has three first-floor windows. The exposed timber-framing on the first floor includes a continuous rail, possibly a former jetty bressummer, a wallplate, several irregularly spaced studs, and intermediate rails. The brick ground floor shows a vertical joint in line with the chimney between the first and second units, indicating the location of a former doorway, though the current entrance is in the first bay, accompanied by a two-light window. The second bay has casement windows with three and two lights, while the third bay features a smaller two-light casement window. A wide stepped chimney stack is positioned on the ridge.

At the rear, there is full-height timber framing that includes one wall-post, part of a rail, and some studs and intermediate rails. Inside, there are back-to-back inglenook fireplaces with stop-chamfered bressummers; the fireplace in the first bay includes a bread-oven on its left side, while the other fireplace is partly blocked. There are dog-legged stairs located behind the chimney stack. On the first floor, there are three cross-frames and exposed timber-framing in the rear wall that includes a tension brace and windbraces at both ends, along with a 17th-century chamber fireplace in the middle bay.