26 And 28, Fore Street

Two adjoining houses at Ide, Fore Street, with late medieval origins and considerable later alteration. The buildings are constructed of whitewashed rendered cob, with corrugated iron roof over thatch to the left-hand property (No. 28) and asbestos slate roof over thatch to the right-hand property (No. 26). A stack stands at the left end of the range, with an axial stack at the right end of No. 28, and an axial cob stack with brick shaft projecting through the roof behind the ridge of No. 26.

The complex shows evidence of at least two phases of late medieval construction within a single depth range, probably five rooms wide (though the interior of No. 28 was not inspected). A heavily sooted two-bay medieval roof survives over the left-hand end and centre of the range, extending as far as the axial stack of No. 26. This stack aligns with a massive cob wall rising to the apex of the roof. To the right of this wall, a second smoke-blackened roof with a higher ridge line extends for two bays. The remnants of a third bay, probably not smoke-blackened, are visible at the extreme right.

The roofing arrangement suggests two adjoining open hall houses: the left-hand two bays constituting one house, and the right-hand three bays a second house that may have had a storeyed one-bay right end. The two-bay house at the left end presents interpretive difficulties, as the right-hand wall projects above the level of the sooted roof and is itself smoke-blackened above roof level. This could indicate either a replacement medieval roof of higher ridge line, or a former smoke louvre at the right end. The sequence of flooring throughout the range is unclear, though ground floor details in No. 26 suggest the left-hand house was floored over quite late, possibly in the late seventeenth century. No hard evidence exists for a through passage.

The buildings are two storeys with an irregular frontage of two plus three windows. No. 28 has a twentieth-century front door at the extreme right with regular fenestration of twentieth-century small-pane top-hung casements. No. 26 has a front door at the extreme left and a large boarded opening at the extreme right, with a small recess to its left, possibly a blocked door. Various twentieth-century casement windows with diamond leaded panes are present.

In the interior of No. 26, the ground floor room to the left has a twentieth-century grate, possibly concealing an earlier fireplace, and a chamfered axial beam. The narrow central room contains a winder stair against the rear wall.

The roofs are of particular interest. The main trusses are probably jointed crucks. The two right-hand bays have chamfered butt purlins and cambered collars mortised into the principals, which are butted at the apex with a diagonally set ridge. The stumps of the extreme right-hand bay purlins remain visible. One purlin in the left-hand bay has broken; the other has a diagonal cut stop and its left-hand end projects through the cob wall, secured with a peg. The two left-hand medieval roof bays (below a modern roof) are unusual in employing a common rafter design without a ridge. The extreme left-hand bay is very complete with heavily sooted thatch and battens; some thatch and battens survive over the right-hand bay. A diagonally set short piece of timber, heavily sooted, is fixed in the right-hand cob wall and is of unknown function. At the right end of the range, a chamfered cross beam with diagonal stops may indicate the storeyed end of the medieval left-hand house. An open hall window is said to survive beneath the render, uncovered some years ago during renovations, extending across the line of the first floor with timber cusped tracery.

Although the front elevation has been altered in the twentieth century, the two houses are of considerable historical and archaeological interest.