120 AND 122, OCKFORD ROAD

The property at 120 and 122 Ockford Road comprises two houses, now combined into one dwelling, built in the late 16th or early 17th century with later 17th-century alterations. The construction incorporates rubble stone, a brick plinth, timber framing with plastered wattle and daub infill, and painted brick infill. The roof is covered in plain tiles. The building is two storeys high, with an attic to the right-hand side (No. 120) and a basement to the left (No. 122).

The house originally consisted of four bays, arranged as a 1:3 pattern, with the left bay (No. 122) being a later 17th-century addition. The rubblestone plinth is approximately 0.5 metres high on the right, rising to about 2 metres on the left, reflecting the sloping ground and creating a basement at the left end with a small window. The timber framing exhibits large timbers, a midrail, and upper tension braces (one curved), with large panels to the first floor and inserted timbers to the ground floor. A 20th-century staircase leads to a shop doorway on the right, featuring a segmental-arched glazed upper panel and overlight, with a corresponding shop window to its left, both under an iron-bracketed canopy. Other windows are largely casements, mostly 20th century, with three 2-light, small-pane windows on the ground floor—the left one smaller and dating to around 1980. The first floor features three smaller windows of 2, 2, and 4 lights, with some older iron casements with leading on the latter. Two 2-light, tile-hung, gabled dormers are situated on the right. The roof is hipped on the left, descending over the left-hand bay with a catslide roof, with a rebuilt brick stack between the left-hand bays, and a truncated stack to the ridge between the right-hand bays.

The rear of the building showcases rubble stone in the lower portion of the wall, with timber framing above. There is a brick and stone outshut on the left. The left return wall combines orangey-red brick and rubblestone with a straight-braced, small square-panelled timber frame above. A board door is positioned on the right, accompanied by an old 2-light, diamond-leaded casement window to its left and a similar smaller window to the left of that.

Internally, the timber frame is exposed, including jowled posts, straight braces, large-scantling cambered tie-beams with vertical posts in the left bay of No. 120, and wind braces. The roof's condition has not been inspected, but sooted rafters at the right-hand end suggest a possible former smoke-bay plan. The right bay contains a blocked ground-floor fireplace with a chamfered surround featuring rounded corners. A wooden winder stair is located at the front of the stack, with access to a cupboard below via an old strap-hinged board door. The left bay (No. 122) includes a basement fireplace with a moulded wooden surround and a 19th-century iron grate and oven.