Orchard Cottage

Orchard Cottage is a house dating from the mid-17th century, with alterations made in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. It was further altered in the early 19th century, likely when it was divided into two cottages, and has undergone some 20th-century changes. The building is constructed of mixed slate stone and sandstone rubble, with partial rendering. The roof is slate-covered, with a 20th-century brick gable end stack to the left and rubble rear lateral stacks serving the hall and lower end.

The original layout comprised three rooms and a through passage, with the lower end originally situated at a lower ground level. This lower end had a rear lateral stack for heating, while the hall and inner room were heated by a rear lateral stack and a gable end stack respectively. An original stair was situated to the rear right of the inner room; upon dividing the property, the rear door of the passage was blocked, and a stair was inserted to the rear of the passage. In the late 17th or early 18th century, outshuts were added to the rear of the hall, inner room, and lower end stack.

The ground floor has a three-light casement with a timber lintel to the left, a four-light casement with a timber lintel lighting the hall, a 20th-century door with a pitched slate hood, and a four-light casement with a timber lintel to the right. The first floor retains four small gables, each featuring a three-light casement; the second bay from each end has a raking dormer with a two-light casement. A slate string course runs above the ground floor window lintels at the upper end to the left. The left gable end displays an external rubble stack with a brick chimney, a glazed door to the right, and a straight joint to the rear outshut. The 20th-century doors and windows are modern replacements. The right end is rendered and has a hipped roof.

The rear elevation presents a single-storey outshut to the rear of the hall and inner room, incorporating a door and two 20th-century windows. A rubble stack with a string course and shaped top is visible, accompanied by a second outshut built to the rear of the stack. A gabled dormer containing a 20th-century two-light casement is situated to the right of the stack. The lower end has a rendered external stack with a shaped top, a small lean-to, and a 20th-century two-light casement, in addition to a gabled dormer with a 20th-century window.

Internally, a curved recess in the rear wall of the inner room marks the original location of the stair. Modern ceiling beams have replaced the originals. The hall contains a granite fireplace to the rear lateral stack with a flat head, chamfered lintel and jambs, and a cloam oven to the rear left with a clay door and handle. The lower end retains a recess for the original oven. The roof is partially visible and displays boxed-in principal rafters at the first floor level. The rafters cross at the apex, with a diagonal-set ridge purlin, one row of purlins morticed to the outer side of the principals; a lower row of purlins is also boxed in. The building is said to have previously been utilized as almshouses.