Keppers Cottage 300 Metres To South West Of Trelaske

Kepper's Cottage, approximately 300 metres to the south-west of Trelaske House, is probably of mid 16th century origin, although it may have earlier elements. The cottage is built of stone rubble, with the front rendered above ground floor level, and has a slate roof with gable ends. Stone rubble end stacks are present.

The house is situated on a sloping site, with the ground rising to the right. Originally, the main range was planned with two rooms, accompanied by a 19th-century outshut at the rear right and a two-story projection on the front near the centre. It's believed the original layout consisted of a three-room and cross or through-passage plan, incorporating a hall to the left with a hall bay to the front and an inner room to the right. The lower end and passage were likely demolished in the 19th century. A thick cross wall with a stud partition and closed truss separates the putative hall and inner room. The roof structure above the inner room was replaced during the late 18th or 19th century, while the structure above the hall was only partially accessible; evidence suggests the feet of the trusses may be sooty and blackened from an open hearth fire in the hall.

Around the late 16th or early 17th century, an axial stack was probably inserted above the passage to heat the hall (now the left-hand end stack), and the first floor was added, likely contemporary with the hall bay projecting to the front.

The front has an asymmetrical three-window facade, with the two-story projection central. 20th-century windows replace the originals; the gabled hall bay features a three-light casement on the ground floor and a two-light casement above. A two-light casement is visible to the right, along with a 20th-century porch and a one-light window to the left. The first floor has a two-light casement to the right and a small one-light window to the left. A blocked door opening in the left-hand gable end reveals a stub of wall and straight joints, indicating that the house originally extended further to the left. A blocked opening exists on the rear elevation, approximately opposite the hall projection. On the right-hand gable end, a shallow corbelled projection sits above ground floor level, possibly originally for a first-floor fireplace or wardrobe, although this opening is now blocked internally.

Inside, the hall displays waney chamfered ceiling beams, roughly stopped with run-out stops. The lintel above the fireplaces appears reused and unmoulded. The inner room retains complete chamfered ceiling beams with stepped stops, and a similarly moulded lintel above the fireplace. The roof structure above the inner room features halved, lap-jointed, and pegged apices and collars, with roughly cut and unfinished trusses. The visible side of the collar to the closed truss between the hall and inner room is partially exposed. The feet of the principals in the hall roof are chamfered and at least one is curved, and appear blackened, possibly from the hearth.