Cherrytrees and Wayland Cottage

These are two adjoining cottages, likely originating as a single house. They date from the early 17th century, with significant renovations carried out in the late 20th century. The cottages are constructed of colourwashed rendered cob, with a wooden shingle roof over Wayland Cottage (the left-hand cottage) and a 20th-century tile roof to Cherrytrees (the right-hand cottage). They have end and axial stacks. The arrangement is now single depth, three rooms wide, with a rear right wing extending from Wayland Cottage, forming a T-shaped plan. The original layout is unclear but may have been a three-room and passage arrangement, with the original entrance possibly to the right of Wayland Cottage’s front door and a hall stack (located at the left end of Cherrytrees) backing onto the passage. The cottages were once divided into three separate dwellings. Recent alterations in the late 20th century have changed the internal partitions.

The front façade is asymmetrical, with two and three windows respectively. Wayland Cottage has a near-symmetrical appearance, featuring a central front door with a lean-to porch and four casement windows, each with two panes of glass; three with two lights and one with three. Cherrytrees has a projecting stack at the right end and an approximately central gabled porch. A 20th-century replacement window features on the right-hand side of the ground floor.

Inside Wayland Cottage, which appears to be the lower end of the original range, are chamfered cross beams with step stops, and a replaced lintel over the fireplace. The roofspace has not been inspected. Cherrytrees retains two large fireplaces; the right-hand fireplace has rebuilt jambs and a chamfered stopped lintel. One cross beam is chamfered with a scroll stop. Two jointed cruck trusses remain; the right-hand truss, above what is believed to be the former inner room, is more finely finished than the left-hand truss. The purlins are either butt or threaded and the collar is mortised into the principals. Deeds are said to date from 1625. This is a notable and traditional vernacular building situated in the centre of Ideford village.