126 AND 128, BINSCOMBE LANE

A hall house, likely dating to the 15th or early 16th century, has been altered in the late 16th, 17th, 19th, and 20th centuries and is now divided into two dwellings. The building is timber-framed with brick infill, partially painted, and incorporates additions of red brick in a Flemish bond pattern. It has plain tile roofs. Originally a 3-bay open-hall house, it was divided to create a 2-bay hall and a right-hand bay which was initially partitioned and floored in the late 16th century. A smoke bay and floor were inserted at this time, with a chimney constructed in the 17th century, and a left-hand addition and house division occurring in the 19th century.

The house has two storeys and four bays, with the left-hand bay being the later addition. In the third bay, the timber frame is visible, showing wall posts arch-braced to a wall plate, a mid rail, and a central first-floor stud. The second bay has a wallpost on the left and a late 20th-century door with a 2-light leaded casement on the right, with a 2-light window above rising through an eaves under a hipped roof. The third bay features a 20th-century half-glazed door (to number 126) and a 2-light leaded casement, both set within segmental brick arches, with a similar window above, also rising through the eaves under a hipped roof. The added left-hand bay has a rubblestone plinth and cogged eaves, with a 2-light window on each floor. The right-hand roof is hipped with a gablet, and a large chimney stack is located in front of the roof pitch, between bays 3 and 4, with an end stack to the left.

At the rear, the timber frame is visible in the two left-hand bays, comprising large rectangular panels and arch-braced wall posts. There is one small leaded light on the first floor to the right.

Inside number 128, the exposed timber frame is visible. A spine-beam of the inserted floor has a lambs-tongue-stopped chamfer and run-out stops, extending approximately 3 meters short of the partition wall between numbers 128 and 126; this indicates the former location of the smoke bay. A rear cross-beam has mortices in the soffit from a former partition. The roof has two crown posts arch-braced to a collar and to a collar purlin. These posts are octagonal in section with cornices below the braces and lower down, with the lower part of the posts being square in section. Coupled rafters are halved at the apex, with halved collars, and rafters show soot marks. The interior of number 126 was not inspected, but is recorded to have an exposed timber frame, including the original partition wall between this bay and the open hall, and the base of a crown post visible.