Ashford House (Flats 1-15)

Ashford House, now a block of fifteen apartments, began as a school in 1701 and has undergone significant extensions throughout the 19th century. The original core is constructed of brick in an inconsistent Flemish bond, topped with a gable end slate roof. Later additions are built from random rubble sandstone and brick, also with gable end slate roofs.

The interior of the original school building has been extensively altered during its conversion to apartments, obscuring its original layout. It forms an L-shaped range, with the main facade facing east. A wing projecting forward of the right-hand rooms was extended in the mid-19th century; two further blocks added to the south in the late 19th century are considered to have less historical significance.

The east-facing front originally had six windows, now five. The first floor has one three-light casement window with latticed glazing bars, while the remaining windows are two-light, some with old leaded panes. A first-floor entrance has been added, accessed by external steps. The ground floor features two doorways added after 1701, with the remaining openings containing casement windows of two and three lights, dating from the 19th and 20th centuries. An oval plaque commemorates that the school and schoolhouse were given and endowed by Nicholas Ashford Gent of Taunton St Mary Magdalen in 1701. A bellcote sits on the roof ridge, constructed of timber with panelled pilasters and topped with a leaded, ogivally-shaped cupola.

The south-facing elevation has three windows, with two tripartite sash windows (four-pane, twelve-pane, four-pane) flanking a twelve-pane sash window, with a small latticed single-light window to the extreme right. The ground floor features wide, panelled double doors under a canopy with shaped brackets; further tripartite sash windows flank the doors, one horned, the other hornless. A later entrance with a rectangular overlight disrupts the symmetry. A one-window bay extension to the right is slightly recessed, with sixteen-pane sash windows to both ground and first floors. An internal stack is present. The rear elevations feature casement windows, predominantly 19th century or later.

A late 19th-century random rubble extension has large four-light windows with stone transoms and surrounds, featuring three separate gables on the south-facing front. A late 19th- or early 20th-century brick extension mirrors this style. Fragments of 18th-century joinery remain internally. Despite extensive alterations, Ashford House remains a significant feature within the village setting.