Pen-Inney Cottage

Pen-Inney Cottage is a house possibly dating to the 15th century, with flooring added in the early 17th century and an extension built in the early 18th century. It is constructed of painted stone rubble with a rag slate roof featuring gable ends.

The building has a complex history of modifications and changes of use. Originally, it likely had a three-room plan with a cross passage, with the lower end on the right heated by an end stack, the hall heated by a front lateral stack, and a very narrow inner room to the left heated by a separate end stack. The roof structure appears to have been raised at some point, though its original configuration is uncertain. The hall was probably open to the roof originally, though it is unclear whether it was initially heated by an open hearth. A chamber above the inner room projected into the hall and was accessed by a newel stair to the rear of the hall, though whether this jettied arrangement was original or a later insertion is uncertain.

The hall was floored in the early 17th century, contemporary with the addition of a hall bay directly below the front lateral hall stack. The lower end and passage were altered, though they remained open to the roof into the early 20th century. A thick cross wall on the higher side of the passage was likely inserted around the later 17th century and only extends to collar level.

In the early 18th century, the house was extended on the left side with a fourth room, heated by an end stack. During the later 18th or 19th century, the house was subdivided into two cottages and a laundry. The early 18th century extension became a single-room cottage with an entrance on the right. The inner room and hall became a second cottage, with the inner room functioning as a cross passage. The lower end became a laundry. A 19th-century outshut extension with an entrance porch was added across the front. When the building returned to single occupation, the entrance directly into the inner room was retained as the principal entrance, with the hall on the right and kitchen on the left. The lower end has become a workshop.

The building presents two storeys with an asymmetrical two-window front. A single-storey 19th-century outshut spans the front, forming an entrance porch and containing a blocked entrance on the left that was originally used when the left-hand room was a separate cottage. A 20th-century window has been inserted in this entrance. The front lateral hall stack projects forward, its purpose uncertain. Adjacent to this is a 12-pane sash window in the hall bay. An outshut also extends across the front of the passage and right-hand room, with a blocked entrance on its left side. The first floor has two 19th-century casement windows.

Interior features include a hall fireplace with unmoulded granite jambs and a roughly chamfered granite lintel, along with a cloam oven. A thick cross wall divides the hall from the inner room, continuing to first-floor level. The floor joists spanning the narrow inner room continue to support the jetty. The floor joists above the hall date to the early 17th century and are chamfered with run-out stops, while the lintel above the hall bay and the beam closest to the lower end of the hall feature ogee stops. A timber newel stair accesses the rear of the hall. The early 18th-century extension on the far left has slightly chamfered beams, some with run-out stops. The roof structure was not accessible at the time of inspection.