Cruwys Ball

Cruwys Ball is a tenement farmhouse, likely built in the mid to late 17th century, with extensions probably added in the late 18th and 19th centuries. More recent 20th-century alterations have also been made. The main structure is of rendered stone rubble and cob, with a corrugated asbestos roof to the primary range and slate to the right end, both featuring gable ends. An axial stack is also rendered. The original plan seems to have been a small, two-room farmhouse, expanded with a larger hall or kitchen to the left, heated by an axial stack (formerly a gable-end stack). It originally had a direct front entry and a rear stair turret near the stack end, alongside a small, unheated room to the right. Former outbuildings were present at each end, probably a stable to the left (added in the 18th and 19th centuries) and a ciderhouse to the right, which was converted into living space in the 20th century. The exterior has two storeys and a four-window front. The windows are modern, with two- and three-light casements, each with three panes. A deep, projecting porch has a lean-to slate roof and built-in wall benches. The front door is a four-panelled door with the upper two panels glazed. Inside the hall/kitchen, there's a chamfered cross ceiling beam and bressumers, one of which has been replaced in the 20th century. A lintel below the fireplace is also chamfered, and the fireplace contains two bread ovens; the earlier oven is unusually stone-lined. A 17th-century straight-headed doorway with a chamfered surround leads to the foot of a winder staircase. The chamber above the hall has a chamfered fireplace lintel. The roof was entirely replaced in the 20th century, but some original 17th-century rafters and battens remain over the unheated room end.