Bell Cottages

Bell Cottages are two cottages that were originally one house, dating from the late 16th century to early 17th century. The cottages are whitewashed and rendered, featuring a thatched roof with a plain ridge and a half-hipped end on the right. They are located adjacent to No 1 Bell Cottages on the left and have both a front lateral stack and a rear lateral stack.

The original layout is somewhat unclear but may have consisted of two rooms with a through passage, where a rear door is opposite a blocked doorway at the front. The right side likely housed a hall or kitchen heated by the rear lateral stack, while the left side may have served as a parlour heated by the front lateral stack. There are some uncertainties regarding the internal arrangements, particularly the relationship between this building and No 2, as well as the proximity of the cross wall to the left jamb of the rear wall fireplace. No 3, on the right, may have originally contained two rooms with a narrow room on the far right.

A later lean-to structure with a tiled roof is attached to the right end of the cottages. The building has two storeys and an asymmetrical three-window front, with the left side of the front wall being blank. There is a 20th-century glazed front door to No 3, positioned to the right of centre, and a blocked doorway leading to the proposed passage next to the front lateral stack. The windows are 20th-century timber casements.

Inside, No 3 features an open fireplace with stone rubble jambs and a pyramid-stopped lintel, along with a chamfered axial beam that extends to the straight stair, located to the right of the room's centre. No 2 has a chamfered cross beam with scroll stops and a 20th-century grate. Adjacent to the left end of No 2 is a small square stone room, which is a flying freehold with No 7 and is said to have been a lock-up. The roof structure includes straight principal rafters visible in the first-floor rooms. Bell Cottages are part of a thatched group on Bell Hill.