The Friary

THE FRIARY

A house of probably 15th or early 16th century origin, remodelled and likely reduced in the late 17th or early 18th century, with a possible extension to the front dating to around the mid 19th century. The building comprises two parallel ranges of double-depth plan.

The front range is faced in roughcast brick with a Welsh slate roof featuring folded ends and red brick gable end stacks. The back range is timber-framed with 18th century Flemish bond red brick casing including burnt headers, and has a plain clay tile hipped roof with rear lateral stacks.

The plan consists of two rooms in the front range, accessed via a central entrance into the larger right-hand room, and two rooms in the back range. The left-hand room of the back range now serves as a stairhall, while the right-hand room has a rear lateral stack. The back range represents the original medieval structure, evidenced by smoke-blackened common rafter roofing over its left section, which was originally open to the roof. Stud partitions divide this section, with the right-hand end containing a later roof. This back range is probably a fragment of a larger medieval building that was reduced and remodelled around the late 17th or early 18th century when it was faced in brick and a floor inserted, possibly earlier in the 17th century. The front range may represent a mid 19th century extension or remodelling of an earlier structure; the right-hand gable stack features a ground floor fireplace with a chamfered timber lintel that may have been reused, suggesting earlier origins if this is indeed a mid 19th century addition.

Externally, the building is two storeys with a symmetrical two-window front. The first floor retains late 19th century sashes with vertical glazing bars only. The two ground floor windows were replaced with three-light casements in the late 20th century. A central doorway has a moulded doorcase with a bracketed hood and a late 20th century panelled and glazed door.

The rear elevation is faced in late 17th or early 18th century red brick in Flemish bond with burnt headers, displaying two small window openings with cambered arches. The first floor contains a late 19th century two-light casement, and the ground floor a late 20th century casement. A large two-storey late 20th century timber-framed bay window projects from the left side.

Internally, fragmentary timber framing is exposed in the back range. A framed partition between the two back rooms has a plastered section at first storey level beside the later staircase, decorated with an interesting painted pattern of black sprigs on a white ground, probably dating to the 16th century. The roof structure over the left portion of the back range is a common rafter type without a ridgepiece, fitted with clasped purlins, all heavily encrusted with soot. A framed partition extends from the right-hand end into the roof, with remains of another partition toward the left end. The right-hand fireplace in the front range has a chamfered timber lintel which may have been reused or may indicate that the front range is earlier than the 19th century.