Monks Cottage And Little Thatch

Monks Cottage and Little Thatch is a house that has been converted into two cottages, dating from the early 16th century or earlier. It was remodeled in the 17th century and refaced in the 18th and 19th centuries. The building is constructed of brick, with the end gable of Monks Cottage featuring 18th-century English bond brickwork, including some burnt headers and chainage work under the end gable. Little Thatch is built in 18th-century Flemish bond with some burnt headers, while Monks Cottage also has 19th-century Flemish bond brickwork. The upper floor of Monks Cottage retains some 17th-century timber framing.

Monks Cottage has a 20th-century tiled roof, while Little Thatch has a thatched roof. Each cottage has end brick stacks and is two storeys high with irregular window arrangements. The windows are primarily 5-light casements with horizontal glazing bars. Monks Cottage features a 17th-century canted dormer oriel window on the upper floor to the right, supported by a scrolled bracket and adorned with a moulded cornice. There are part-glazed plank doors positioned left of centre in Monks Cottage and centrally in Little Thatch.

Inside, both cottages contain 17th-century fireplaces with depressed 4-centred, chamfered bressummers at the north end. The living rooms have exposed, chamfered ceiling beams and wall plates. Remnants of three smoke-blackened true cruck trusses can be seen in various locations. The original structure likely began as a 4-bay open-hall house of uncertain plan in the early 16th century, which was probably entirely timber-framed. In the 17th century, it was ceiled and divided into two separate tenements, with the central stack serving only one of them. The cottages were largely refaced in brick during the 18th century, and Monks Cottage underwent further refacing in the 19th century.