Crook'S Corner And Olde Hollow

Crook's Corner and Olde Hollow is a house, now divided into two dwellings, dating back to the 15th or early 16th century and significantly altered and enlarged over the centuries. The construction is primarily of roughcast cob and sandstone rubble, with partial rendering, and features hipped and gabled-end pantiled roofs. Originally a 3-room farmhouse with a through passage, the service end was located to the left of the passage. The hall and service end had open roofs, showing evidence of smoke-blackening. The inner room was always two stories high and accessed by a rear stair turret. A first floor and stacks were likely added to the hall and service end in the late 16th or 17th century. Early heating for the hall appears to have been through a front lateral stack, later demolished, as indicated by the position of the central ceiling beam stops. In the late 18th or early 19th century, the main range was extended at both ends, the service end re-roofed with some reused sooted timbers, and a service end crosswing was built, possibly incorporating a formerly detached kitchen. A large fireplace in the rear of the crosswing faces away from the main house, heating a relatively small room. Later 19th-century extensions are present, with another rear wing added around 1949. All chimneys have brick shafts. The front elevation has a four-window range with an early 19th-century cross wing on the left. The upper floor has three hornless sash windows with 16 panes, one horned sash window with four panes up and eight down, and three hornless sash windows with 12 or 16 panes, along with a two-light casement. The left-hand window bay is recessed, marking the service end extension. The cross wing features a 16-pane hornless sash bow window on the first floor. The left-hand elevation, of the cross wing, largely has 20th-century windows, but retains three 19th-century 12-pane horizontal sliding sash windows and a two-light casement. The rear elevation was completely refenestrated and altered around 1980. Internally, the medieval hall is small; a truss separating the hall and service end has a two-story partition open at the apex. One screen remains in the passage, concealed behind internal rendering. The roof features two trusses, possibly jointed crucks, smoke blackened, with trenched purlins, conventional morticed and pegged principals. Three hall ceiling beams are chamfered, two with hollow step stops with notches, and one positioned to accommodate the dismantled front lateral stack. A putative detached kitchen fireplace has a chamfered lintel with run-out stops. The treads and risers of the original staircase in the rear stair turret remain in place, though now concealed by modern carpentry.