Drake'S Cottage

Drake's Cottage is a cottage dating from around 1500 or earlier, with significant alterations and a large 20th-century extension. It is built of cob with a stone plinth and has a thatched roof that is half-hipped at the right-hand end. The original structure, which was part of a former three-room cross passage plan, now connects to a 1980s extension that is set at right angles, creating an L-shaped overall plan. The lower end of the cottage has been destroyed.

The cottage has two storeys. The front features a doorway near the internal angle of the L-plan, which is sheltered by a 20th-century thatched porch. To the right on the ground floor, there are two 2-light windows of unequal size, and one upper window is located under eyebrow eaves. The building has substantial buttressing. The rear elevation, which is above the road, includes a lateral stack with a bake-oven bulge, three 2 and 3-light windows on the ground floor, and one 2-light window above under eyebrow eaves. All windows are timber casements from the 20th century.

Inside, there is a hall fireplace with a large timber lintel and one original jamb, lined with brick and stone and featuring a side oven. There is also a rendered post and a wattle screen with a shouldered door arch, as well as a chamfered beam with step hollow stops. The roof has two principal trusses, possibly jointed crucks, one of which is closed, each with a collar, yoke side pegged and morticed, and a diagonal ridge piece. The purlins are trenched, and there is a hip cruck at the right-hand end. The interior shows signs of being smoke-blackened throughout.