No 3, The Palms

No 3, The Palms is a small house dating from the early 16th century, which was remodeled and partly re-roofed in the early 17th century. There is also a late 20th-century extension at the left end. The building is constructed of whitewashed rendered cob and stone rubble, topped with a thatched roof that is gabled at the left end, featuring a brick chimney stack on that side.

The house is believed to have been part of a medieval open hall house and retains some 16th-century sooted roof timbers. The left end truss is likely from the 17th century, indicating that this part of the house may have been rebuilt or extended when the chimney stack was added, possibly before the building was floored. The higher end of the house, known as Centre Cottage, has been modernized but still maintains a cross passage.

The exterior is two storeys high with an asymmetrical two-window front. The thatch eaves are eyebrowed over the two first-floor windows, and there is a 20th-century entrance through the addition at the left end of the original structure.

Inside, the ground floor room features a surprisingly large open fireplace, with a scroll-stopped lintel positioned almost at the height of the ceiling beams. The fireplace has good ashlar sandstone jambs and a bread oven located on the back wall of the stack. A chamfered post supports the scroll-stopped crossbeam. The roof contains two different types of trusses: one over the right end is definitely medieval and encrusted with soot, featuring a threaded ridge, while the second is stained but not soot-encrusted, with a ridge resting on the apex and a halved lapped collar. This traditional house of medieval origins has group value with the thatched cottage opposite.