The Cruwys Arms

The Cruwys Arms is a public house dating from around the mid-17th century, with alterations and renovations in the 20th century. The exterior is whitewashed and rendered, likely over stone rubble, and has a slate roof with gabled ends. There are axial stacks at the rear, with brick shafts dating from the 19th or 20th century, and a further brick shaft at the right-hand end. The building exhibits an unusual plan for the region, featuring a 3-room and lobby entrance arrangement, rather than the more typical 3-room and through passage layout. The left-hand room and the hall (middle room) have back-to-back fireplaces, and the front door opens directly into a lobby facing these stacks. The lower end room's fireplace is relatively small for a kitchen, but the presence of a bread oven indicates it has been used as such at some point. The narrow inner room was originally unheated but later gained its own stack. A narrow rear addition to the main range is of uncertain origin; a chamfered beam along the rear wall suggests a possible 17th or 18th century addition (now used as the bar), although this beam is wider than the adjacent inner room. The building is two storeys high with an asymmetrical 4-window façade and regular window placement. The left side features a wide, gabled porch with a slate roof, leading to a front door in a lobby between the left and centre rooms; the windows are 20th-century small-pane timber casements. Inside, the hall has an open fireplace with stone rubble jambs and a chamfered stopped lintel. A chamfered cross beam with step stops, supporting the first floor, has been renewed. An oak screen with plank and muntin construction separates the hall from the inner room, featuring an ovolo-moulded head beam and muntins with scroll stops, with the former hall bench level retained; some planks and muntins have been removed. The lower end room also has an open fireplace with a chamfered stopped lintel, stone rubble jambs, and a bread oven. The first floor is supported by a deeply chamfered, step-stopped crossbeam and half beam. The first floor and roofspace have not been inspected but may be of interest. This is a 17th-century house with an unusual plan form, situated in an important corner location in the village centre. It is set back from the road and has a front area paved with pitched stones.