Higher Saunders

Higher Saunders is a house that was originally a farmhouse, dating from the early 17th century, with remodels and extensions made in the late 17th to early 18th centuries. It features plastered cob on rubble footings and has rubble or cob stacks topped with 20th-century brick, all under a thatched roof. The building has an L-shaped layout, consisting of a main block with a two-room plan facing south, away from the road, and a single-room rear block attached to the left (west) end. There are end stacks on the main block and a gable end stack on the rear block. The house is two storeys high and has an irregular three-window front, with mid-20th-century casements that are a mix of timber and iron-framed, and low thatch eyebrows over the first-floor windows. The door, which is from the 20th century, is located left of centre and is sheltered by a hipped thatch-roofed porch supported by plain posts. The stacks project from the end walls, with the left stack being disused and lacking a chimney shaft.

Inside, the rear and right front rooms feature chamfered and step-stopped beams that are very worn, while the left front room has a 20th-century replacement beam. The left front room also contains a late 17th to early 18th-century stone fireplace with a curving pentan and a plain chamfered lintel. The right front room has a contemporary fireplace with an oak lintel that has a chamfer with run-out stops, and it includes a side oven with a late 19th-century cast iron door. The roof is supported by A-frame trusses with pegged lap-jointed collars.