Lower Ash Cottage

Lower Ash Cottage is a house dating from the early 17th century, with alterations made in the late 18th and late 19th centuries. Built of rendered stone rubble, it has a slate roof with a half-hipped gable at the right-hand end and a gabled lower left end, abutting an adjoining house. A chimney stack is located at the left end, featuring a 19th-century brick shaft, and another, also of brick and dating to the late 19th century, is positioned at the right-hand end.

The plan likely originated as a 3-room and through or cross-passage house facing north-east. The lower left-hand (south-east) end, including the passage, was rebuilt as a separate house in the late 20th century. The original hall was heated by an axial stack, with a relative-ly large stair turret projecting at the rear. The inner room at the right-hand (north-west) end was probably originally unheated, and its stack appears to be a late 19th-century addition. An outshut is situated in front of the hall, with a loft above, and a flight of steps at its right-hand end leading to a porch over the doorway into the hall. The outshut and porch are likely additions from the late 18th century, possibly when the lower end was demolished, or alternatively, the original house may have had a 2-room plan, with the existing doorway leading to a cross-passage.

The north-east front is asymmetrical. To the left is a two-storey lean-to outshut with a catslide roof and external stairs in the right-hand angle leading up to a first-floor doorway in the side of the outshut. These stairs are built against a stone lean-to porch, which has a slated canopy over the doorway on the right-hand side. Both the porch and the outshut have slate-hung side walls and 20th-century plank doors. There are two 20th-century casement windows on the ground floor of the outshut, and one 20th-century 2-light casement window on the main range above the porch. The rear, north-west elevation is also asymmetrical, with a large stair turret to the right, featuring splayed angle walls and a small stair window with an old casement. There are two 20th-century 2-light casement windows on each floor of the main range to the left.

Inside, the former hall has chamfered cross-beams with run-out stops. The fireplace at the lower end has a late 19th-century brick fireplace and a small late 18th-century china cupboard with shaped shelves and fluted pilasters to the side. The former inner room features a chamfered axial beam with step stops at one end, a 20th-century fireplace, and a small, late 18th-century china cupboard. An 18th-century 2-panel door connects the inner room and hall. A wide newel staircase is located within the turret. The first floor has some 19th-century panelled doors. The original roof structure was likely replaced when the eaves were raised, as the principal rafters are not exposed in the first-floor rooms.