Nos. 13-17 Horse Street

Nos. 13-17 Horse Street

A row of three cottages, now subdivided, with origins in the 14th century as a hall house that was later extended and partitioned.

The buildings are constructed from rough coursed rubble stone elevations, some rendered, with sections of brick repair and infill. The main range has a pantiled roof, with slate used on some ancillary ranges and brick chimney stacks.

Originally, the main range ran parallel with Horse Street on a roughly north-south alignment. The hall occupied the central section (No. 15), with a cross passage to the south serving the service area (No. 17). The parlour rooms were in the cross wing to the north (now No. 13). Following subdivision, ranges were added to the rear: No. 13 has two pitched ranges at a perpendicular angle and an adjoined coach house; No. 15 has a lean-to; and No. 17 has a long pitched, gabled range on the perpendicular, with a separate stable block.

The principal façade of the main range comprises three distinct sections. No. 13 has a gabled front with a large bow window at ground-floor level set forward, containing four glazed sections of eight lights with a rough stone plinth and slate pentice roof. The modern front door is set back in line with the upper storey gable face. The first floor has a small modern casement, with 20th-century shaped barge boards beneath the eaves. No. 15 has a gable set forward in line with No. 13, then drops back on the right, with modern casements at ground and first floors and the front door to the left. Both No. 13 and No. 15 are rendered. No. 17 is exposed rough coursed rubble stone with a half-dormer in the roof. The front door is to the left beneath a thick timber lintel, with a modern casement to the right under a slimmer lintel. The dormer has a 20th-century casement with a slim modern timber lintel.

The rear elevations are all rough rubble stone, except the gable-rear of No. 13 which is rendered. Fenestration is irregular throughout with modern casements. No. 13's probable cross range projects perpendicularly to the rear, with a further pitched and gabled range beyond. A small modern lean-to porch connects the main building to a two-storey pitched coach house aligned with the main range, which has large French doors to its rear and two skylights in the rear roof leaf. No. 15 has a simple lean-to with a raking dormer at its rear. No. 17 has a long narrow two-storey range projecting perpendicularly at the rear, with a single-storey lean-to on its north elevation. A separate two-storey outbuilding in rubble stone with some brick detailing stands nearby.

Internally, the ground floor of No. 13 is an open-plan three-bay range with a rear extension. Niches in the walls reveal blocked doorways and fireplaces. A thick exposed beam at the front shows the line of the wall prior to refronting. The exposed roof structure consists of four trusses, each with a collar, single purlins and a diagonally positioned ridge beam. The timbers of the main range are hand-sawn and pegged; those to the rear are machine-sawn.

No. 15's ground floor contains a large fireplace, now largely infilled, and a boxed-in stair on the north wall behind which sits a blocked heavy wooden doorframe with a two-centred arch. The east wall has a small recess with a moulded stone two-centred arch with a hook at the apex and stone-slab base, possibly a ritualistic washing niche. A plank-and-batten door to the staircase has tapered-T-strap hinges and an 18th-century latch. A late-17th-century plank-and-batten door between the two first-floor rooms has mouldings giving the appearance of panelling, with decorative notches on the battens and strap hinges with heart-shaped ends. The exposed roof structure comprises a raised cruck truss with chamfered braces rising to a tenoned collar. Above the collar is a short saddle post, from which rises a short king post supporting the diagonally-positioned ridge beam. Single purlins and a single row of wind-braces survive to the south side. Much of the roof structure is heavily smoke-blackened.

No. 17 contains a winder stair and a three-light leaded wooden-mullioned window at the rear. The roof has coupled rafters, a diagonal ridge beam and single purlins in hand-sawn timbers.

Each cottage has thick axial beams with deep chamfering.

A range to the rear of No. 13, likely originally a coach house, is now connected to the main building. A separate range to the rear of No. 17 was likely originally a stable block.