52 And 56, Cecil Road

A house and cottage, likely with origins in the early 17th century or earlier, underwent significant alterations in the 19th and 20th centuries. The building is constructed of roughcast cob on stone rubble footings, with a slate roof that is gabled at the left end and hipped at the right. It features a left-end stack with a rendered shaft, a rear-right lateral stack with a brick shaft, and an end stack to a wing with a rendered shaft. The overall layout is an L-shape, with a single-depth main block, two rooms wide (number 56), and a rear-right wing at right angles (number 52). Originally, the plan may have comprised two rooms and a through-passage, with a heated rear wing. The main block was re-roofed in the late 19th century, and there have been various rear additions. The front has an asymmetrical three-window arrangement with two 20th-century timber front doors, each with a slated porch hood supported by wrought-iron brackets. There are three ground-floor and three first-floor windows, all with 20th-century casements and leaded panes. A large, gabled dormer is in the right-of-centre position. The right-hand return has a similar front door and porch hood, as well as a window on each floor. A Sun Insurance fire sign is affixed to the front. Inside the main block, two chamfered scroll-stopped crossbeams remain. A narrow room in the centre is thought to be a former passage. The right-end room contains a winder stair on the rear wall, near the lateral stack. The roof features 19th-century king post and strut trusses. This building represents an early part of Paignton's development.