Oldway and Number 3

Oldway and Number 3 are two adjoining houses with origins in the 17th century and later alterations. They are constructed from colourwashed rendered cob and stone rubble, topped with a thatched roof that is gabled at both ends. The building features an axial stack with a brick shaft for Oldway (the left-hand house) and a right end stack for Number 3.

The layout of Oldway consists of a single depth, two rooms wide, with an entrance on the right side leading into a room heated by the axial stack, and a narrow unheated room to the left. A later rear lean-to addition houses the kitchen and stair. Number 3 likely has a single room layout with its entrance on the front at the left. Oldway clearly shows its 17th-century origins with a chamfered stopped crossbeam, while the dating of Number 3 is less certain, although it may also date from the same period. The thatched roof of Number 3 extends over a carriage entrance at the right end and continues with Hillside.

The houses are two storeys high and have an asymmetrical front with two windows on the left and two on the right, along with adjacent front doors. Oldway retains its likely 18th-century three-light casements with square leaded panes, while the windows of Number 3 have been replaced but are probably set in 18th-century embrasures. To the right of Number 3, there is a carriageway with large paired timber gates.

Inside Oldway, there is a 17th-century chamfered scroll-stopped crossbeam in the heated ground floor room, though other features may be hidden behind later plaster. The interior of Number 3 has not been inspected, but the roof timbers could be of interest.

These houses have group value with other properties in Bullen Street and are part of a particularly attractive row that includes Hillside and Orchard Cottage on the south side.