Leaze

Leaze is a cottage that was originally a small farmhouse, dating from around the mid 17th century, with a rear outshot and porch added in the 18th century. It is constructed from coursed granite rubble, featuring large moorstone quoins and grounders, and has a rag slate roof with a hipped end on the northwest side and a gable end on the southeast. The building has a two-cell plan, with the entrance on the left leading into a narrow room that serves as an entrance lobby, and a larger hall on the right, which is heated by an internal stone rubble end stack with a dripcourse.

The exterior is two storeys high with an asymmetrical one-window front. The entrance on the left features a round-headed granite arch with a later plank door and an 18th or 19th-century granite rubble porch topped with a rag slate roof. To the right of the entrance is a small hall window with a granite lintel and cill. Above, there is a smaller first-floor window below the eaves, also with a granite cill. These windows are likely the original openings and have later 2-light casements with horizontal glazing bars. Similar windows are found on the northwest end of the building on both floors, while the southeast gable end wall has no windows. A catslide slate roof covers the continuous rear outshot.

The interior plan remains intact, although the ceiling beams appear to have been replaced. There is a timber lintel above the fireplace, but the interior was not accessible during the survey in 1986. Leaze is a remarkably well-preserved example of a small moorland two-cell house from the 17th century. The porch and rear outshot represent interesting developments that likely improved the accommodation in the 18th century. Very few unaltered 17th-century farmhouses of this small scale remain, making Leaze possibly the best example in Cornwall.