The Keepers

The Keepers is a house, formerly a farmhouse, dating from the late 16th century to early 17th century. One end was possibly separated from it in the 18th century, and the building was extended and modernised in the 20th century. It features rendered cob walls and a thatched roof that is hipped at the left end and gabled at the right. There is a rendered rubble lateral stack to the right of the front with a tall brick shaft, and a brick shaft to the rear lateral stack. Originally, the house had a three-room and through-passage plan, with a rear lateral stack serving the lower room on the left and a front lateral stack for the hall. In the 18th century, the inner room may have been divided off, reducing the size of the hall. A 19th-century outshut at the left end was converted into another room in the late 20th century when it was also extended further at the rear. The lower room and passage were converted into one room, and the rear passage door was blocked. The house is two storeys high and has an asymmetrical three-window front with three-light 20th-century casements featuring glazing bars, while the first-floor windows are in small openings. There is a large thatched door on the left side and a semi-circular former outshut extension at the left end. Inside, the fireplace in the lower room has a chamfered wooden lintel with double hollow step stops and two rough cross beams. The roof trusses are likely original, consisting of substantial straight principals with threaded purlins and straight collars that are halved and pegged onto the principal rafters.