Smithincott Cottage

Smithincott Cottage is a detached house, originally a farmhouse, dating back to the early 16th century with later alterations. The construction is a mix of roughcast cob and rubble, with a thatched gable roof. It was originally a 3-room plan house with a through-passage, built using jointed cruck construction, with the service wing on the left side of the passage. The hall and inner room were originally open to the roof, and the timbers show signs of smoke blackening. Stacks and a first floor were likely added in the late 16th or early 17th century. The hall stack is situated behind the passage, while the inner room has an external end stack for heating. The service wing always had two storeys and an internal end stack. All stacks have brick shafts. A winder stair is located in a turret to the rear of the hall and inner room, with a newel post positioned next to one of the jointed cruck trusses.

The exterior presents an irregular 3-window front. The first floor has two-light casement windows beneath shallow eyebrow eaves. The ground floor features four two- and three-light casement windows. A thatched porch with latticed sides is present at the front. Modern windows are found at both ends, although the right-hand end also features a small window in the gable wall. The rear elevation includes a three-light casement window on the service wing, and a small two-light window to the stair turret, alongside a lean-to constructed of brick, stone, and cob.

Inside, the house has five bays. The service wing has a shallow, chamfered cross ceiling beam. A plank and muntin screen, brought from elsewhere, has been affixed to the rear of the stack, inverted to face the higher end of the passage. In the hall, a cross ceiling beam above the lintel carries the jetty from the service wing, and is morticed into a jointed cruck truss, being chamfered with hollow step stops. A modern ceiling beam is also present. The hall contains a fireplace with a side oven, the lintel displaying a very shallow chamfer. An in-situ, plank and muntin screen separates the hall and inner room, though it is not morticed into the nearby jointed cruck truss and is chamfered and stopped, with carpenters mitres on the hall side. The inner room has two cross ceiling beams, chamfered with hollow step stops. The fireplace in the inner room features a massive lintel, with the chamfer extending onto the jambs with hollow step stops and a bar. The staircase has 19th-century treads and risers. A ground floor doorway has a cranked lintel and chamfered jambs, while the first-floor doorway is double, with both featuring cranked lintels and chamfered jambs with run-out stops. The roof structure incorporates five jointed cruck trusses, morticed and pegged at the apex, with cranked collars set high and a diagonal ridge piece, alongside two sets of trenched purlins.