21, 23 AND 25, FORE STREET

Two dwellings, originally a single house, dating back to the 15th or early 16th century, with later alterations. The building is constructed of plastered cob with stone footings, and has a gabled-end thatched roof. It was originally a three-room, through-passage house, later extended. The building is set back at an angle from Fore Street. External brick chimney shafts, dating to the 19th century, are visible, with one having an older stone footing. A cob stack backing onto the former passage also survives in the roof space. The building has two storeys and a six-window front. The first floor has 2- and 3-light windows, with the 3-light windows dating to the 19th century and two having 10 leaded panes to the outer lights only. The ground floor also has 2- and 3-light windows, some of which are early 19th-century casements. The garage doors may indicate the former location of a passage. Internally, a screen between the hall and parlour has been removed, but a single partition, possibly a plank and muntin screen, survives in the passage to the left of the main door. The interior has been significantly altered elsewhere. The roof structure consists of five jointed crucks with triangular blocks at the apex, pegged and morticed, a diagonal ridge piece, and through purlins; the collars have been replaced. The roof is smoke-blackened throughout the original three-room, through-passage house, including visible battening and wheat-reed thatch.