4, 5, 6 AND 7, SILVER STREET

Row of three cottages (nos. 4 and 6 now form a single dwelling) on the north side of Silver Street in Kentisbeare. The building dates possibly from the early 16th century with later alterations and extensions. It is constructed of roughcast cob on stone footings with a thatched roof, hipped to the left where it adjoins Walnut Cottage to the right.

The building was originally planned as a three-room, through-passage house with the service end to the left of the passage (now divided between nos. 5 and 6). It is of jointed cruck construction. Although the visible roof timbers have been painted black, the building was open to roof, at least in part—the service end first floor is jettied into the hall. The inner room roof space is inaccessible and no. 6 was not inspected internally.

A hall floor was inserted probably in the 17th century, with inserted stacks also likely dating from this period. The hall is heated by an axial stone stack backing onto the passage, whilst the inner room is heated by a stone end stack. The axial stack between nos. 6 and 7 was probably originally an end stack to the service end before further rooms (cottages) were erected in the 18th or 19th century (now part of no. 6 and no. 7). Winder stairs are located to the rear of the hall, another beside the inner room end stack, and winder stairs serve no. 7 and probably no. 6. The building is two storeys.

Exterior: The front elevation shows irregular fenestration. The inner room and chamber above (no. 4) retain their 17th-century windows. On the first floor, the service end and extension (nos. 5, 6 and 7) have two casement windows of two lights and one of three lights, all of 19th-century date. The hall chamber has a two-light casement window in a pegged surround, set lower than the others but with its lintel at eaves level. The inner room chamber has a three-light window with ovolo-moulded mullions, jambs and surround. A two-light casement window with eight leaded panels per light to the extreme right marks the stairs. On the ground floor, no. 7 has two 20th-century two-light windows; no. 6 has 19th-century casements. The former service end has a small three-light casement window with six leaded panes per light and an 18th-century catch, and a small four-light window to the hall with three lights containing twelve leaded panes. The inner room has a four-light window with ovolo-moulded surround, jambs and mullions. Simple porches front the building. To the rear, no. 4 has a brick and stone pantiled lean-to; no. 6 has a 20th-century single-storey addition. An outbuilding to no. 7 is constructed of cob, stone and brick, partially weatherboarded, with some posts older than the 19th-century roof.

Interior: The passage, subsequently narrowed, retains the original lower end screen headbeam in the left-hand room of no. 5 with muntin mortices. A doorway from the passage into the hall has a cranked lintel. The service end is jettied into the hall. The hall has a deeply chamfered cross ceiling beam with rounded stops, tenoned into the jointed cruck truss. The inner room has three cross ceiling beams—the unchamfered ones and others chamfered with hollow step stops. An end fireplace has a chamfered and unstopped lintel (concealed). A newel stair was originally lit by end windows (replaced by a 19th-century front window when the adjacent dwelling was built); the embrasures of these windows are still visible internally. A screen probably survives between the hall and inner room, now concealed.

Roof: Three jointed crucks with morticed and pegged apex carpentry (Alcock type F2).