Oak Cottage And Downe Thatch

Oak Cottage and Downe Thatch is a house and adjoining cottage dating from the early 17th century. It is constructed of whitewashed rendered cob and stone, topped with a thatched roof that is gabled at the right end and hipped at the left end, featuring end stacks and an axial stack. The building has a single depth plan that is three rooms wide, and it may have originally been a three-room house with a through passage; the lower end and passage to the right (Downe Thatch) have been rebuilt in the 20th century, along with rear additions.

The exterior is two storeys high with an asymmetrical arrangement of windows, featuring a three-to-one window front. The roofline of Downe Thatch is slightly lower than that of Oak Cottage, which has a gabled dormer approximately in the center. There is a 20th-century thatched porch and front door to Oak Cottage that leads directly into the central room of the range, and a 20th-century porch to the left of Downe Thatch. The windows consist of 20th-century casements with two and three lights.

Inside Oak Cottage, the central room, thought to be the hall, has a 20th-century fireplace that may be concealing an earlier lintel and jambs. It features a stop-chamfered crossbeam, exposed joists, and an oak plank and muntin screen. A winder stair rises next to the stack. The roof is constructed using side-pegged jointed cruck construction and shows no signs of smoke blackening. This is an attractive 17th-century house with some notable interior features.