Orchardlea

Orchardlea is a house with origins in the late medieval period, likely dating to the late 15th or early 16th century, with a rear wing. The main house was probably built in the 17th century and remodelled in the late 18th century, with 19th and 20th century additions. The construction is of rendered rubble, with exposed stone to part of the wing. The roof is slate, corrugated to the rear wing. A brick chimney shaft serves the front of the rear wing, and the main block has three brick stacks, one at the left-hand gable end, one axial, and one at the rear of the right-hand end.

The rear wing is the earliest part of the building, initially an open hall with a central hearth, where a lateral stack was inserted in the 16th century. The plan of this wing is now unclear due to its use as an outbuilding. In the 17th century, a three-room and through-passage plan house was added at a right angle. This house was heated by an axial stack at its inner end, a gable end stack, and a lateral rear stack. Around the late 18th century, this block was internally remodelled and refenestrated, and the older rear wing was likely adapted for non-domestic use. 19th-century outshuts were added along the rear wall, with a first-floor extension in the 20th century.

The front of the house presents an asymmetrical four-window facade. The upper floor windows are late 18th century 16-pane hornless sash windows. Ground floor windows to the left and right ends are 2-light sash windows, each light with 12 panes, which are 20th-century facsimiles. A central tripartite sash window is also of the same period, all with horns. A porch with a lean-to slate roof and trellised sides sits to the right, sheltering a late 18th-century six-fielded panel door with the top two panels glazed. The contemporary doorcase features panelled reveals, flat pilasters, a fluted frieze, and a cornice.

The rear wing projects onto the road to the right, displaying a wide doorway at its right-hand end and two blocked ground floor windows. Inside the rear wing, vestiges of face-pegged jointed cruck rafters remain; one with mortices for threaded purlins and smoke-blackening, along with morticed, cambered collar joints. The other crucks are straight principals with lapped and pegged collars. The fireplace has been plastered over but retains a large opening.

The front block displays features from the 18th-century remodelling. The lower room has a chimneypiece with a moulded cornice and a projecting plaque to the frieze. Within this room is an unusual panelled door featuring four square panels above and four triangular ones below. The hall contains a boxed-in central cross-beam, and both rooms have fielded panel shutters.