Reeds And Hammets

Reeds and Hammets is a farmhouse, likely dating from the early to mid 16th century, with significant remodelling in the 17th century and alterations in the 19th and 20th centuries. The construction is primarily rendered stone rubble and cob, with a thatched roof featuring a gable end to the left and a hipped end to the right. There is a rendered axial stack with a tapered cap and a brick stack at the right end.

The original layout was a three-room and cross-passage plan, with the lower end located to the right and an axial hall stack backing onto the passage. A staircase was later added running up the rear wall of the passage. Originally, the hall was open to the roof, and the roof structures over the inner room and lower end were probably replaced in the 19th century, leaving uncertainty regarding whether these rooms were originally floored. A cob partition wall separates the hall and inner room, seemingly inserted later, with the stub of a smoke-blackened ridge visible on the inner room side. A 4-centred arched doorway within this partition, present until around 1980, suggests a possible 17th-century origin, though the hall ceiling beam and fireplace lintel indicate a likely late 17th-century date for the hall ceiling and stack insertion. It is possible the lower end was rebuilt at this time, initially remaining unheated until the early 19th century. The room at the inner end appears to have consistently served as a dairy or service room. A 20th-century staircase has been inserted running up the rear wall, and the original staircase in the cross-passage was replaced in the 20th century.

The exterior has 2 storeys and a 4-window range, featuring 20th-century fenestration throughout. The cross-passage doorway has been slightly narrowed in the 20th century, and there is a shallow bread oven projection to the left.

Inside, the hall features a thin chamfered axial ceiling beam and fireplace lintel. The hall fireplace contains a cloam bread oven, and there is a niche in the front wall. The inner room has a rough, unchamfered axial ceiling beam. A 17th-century chamfered door surround connects the chambers over the hall and inner room. The roof structure shows that purlins are supported by solid wall partitions; one inserted principal rafter is supported by the inserted hall stack. The purlins, rafters, battens, and underside of the thatch are heavily smoke-blackened. The roof structure over the inner room and lower end were replaced probably in the 19th century.