Wayside

Wayside is a timber-framed house originally built in the mid to late 16th century as a smoke-bay house. It was extended to the east in the 1930s with a cross-wing, and again around 1971 when a rear extension and cross range were added to the north-west.

The original structure is a timber-framed smoke-bay house with large daub panels, some of which have been infilled with brick. The 1930s and 1971 extensions are built in brick. The building is covered with red tile roofing and has brick chimneys and leaded windows throughout.

The original plan consisted of an east solar, a central hall heated by a smoke bay, and an unheated service end with a possible cross-passage or lobby entry adjacent to the smoke bay. A chimney was probably added in the 17th century, after which the upper floor was fully floored over with a winding staircase placed next to the chimney. In its current form, the service passage has been removed and the service end and central hall now form a single dining room, while the solar serves as the entrance hall. The 1930s eastern addition contains two sitting rooms and an office. The 1971 north-west extension houses a kitchen, laundry room, cloakroom and bathroom. A rear corridor with staircase now provides access to five bedrooms and a 1930s bathroom on the first floor, with a second bathroom and airing cupboard added in 1971.

The original mid to late 16th century range runs east to west under a hipped roof with a gablet. Its timber frame features daub panels with brick infilling at the east. The south façade has a painted black frame with white panels resting on a stone plinth. From west to east, the frame includes a straight down brace in the westernmost upper panel, narrow panels possibly associated with infilled doorways or windows, two large panels with a straight down brace to the upper panel containing 1930s four-light leaded casement windows, the narrow panels of the smoke bay, and 1930s mock panels of painted cement render and brick to the former solar with straight down braces and containing a 1930s boarded door with moulded fillets and two leaded casements. The 1930s eastern extension, of lesser interest but integrated into the current house, is built of white-painted brick with upper and lower four-light casements to the first bay and four-light casements to the cross-wing, a single bay wide under a hipped roof. Two tall brick chimney stacks with clay chimney pots rise above the red-tiled roof. The west elevation is faced in mock panels of cement render and brick, concealing the timber frame, with a two-light casement to the ground floor and a pair of two-light casements to the first floor. A single-storey addition extending to the west from the rear has a three-light leaded casement window and hipped tiled roof. The north (rear) elevation is entirely faced in white-painted brick; the 1930s and 1971 additions have an irregular composition of casement windows with two, three or four leaded lights and a half-glazed back door. The east elevation of the 1930s cross-wing has a four-light and three-light leaded casement window to each floor.

Internally, the front door opens into the former solar, now the entrance hall, which has a lowered floor and a ceiling with a chamfered axial beam and chamfered joists. At the west is an inglenook fireplace with inserted 1930s brickwork and two probably original plank and batten doors with wrought-iron strap hinges and wooden latches. The right-hand door nearest the fireplace leads to a wooden winder stair to the first floor, now floored over, while the left-hand door leads into the hall. The partition between the hall and service end has been removed to form a single dining room with a lowered concrete floor and a ceiling with longitudinal wooden joists and a chamfered cross-beam resting on chamfered posts. Several of these beams have been replaced with later machine-cut timbers and some are re-used. At the east is a brick fireplace added in 1971 with a timber lintel flanked by wooden cupboards, within which 17th-century brickwork to the chimney can still be seen. The ground floor of the 1930s east cross-wing contains two living rooms with straight machine-cut joists and faux Georgian fireplaces, plus an office. The north-west extension contains a kitchen, laundry room and cloakroom. A 1930s corridor links the laundry room and office at the rear. The original frame and daub panels are partly revealed along the former external north wall. A bathroom with late 20th and early 21st-century sanitary ware and 1930s winder stairs providing access to the first floor lead off the rear corridor. Five bedrooms and two bathrooms are accessed from the first-floor landing. At the east end are two bedrooms and a bathroom to the 1930s extension, with boarded doors with wooden latches. The main bedroom has a 1930s fitted cupboard. The 1970s rear extension has a bathroom and airing cupboard with late 20th and early 21st-century sanitary ware. Three bedrooms are situated over the original ground floor rooms of the 16th-century house and retain some historic plank-and-batten doors with wrought-iron strap hinges. The smoke bay and roof structure are visible dividing these rooms. There is a clasped purlin roof with queen struts, although some 1930s machine-cut timbers have also been inserted. The wall plates, straight down braces and timbers to the large panels are partly visible on this floor.