St Leonards Cottage (South)

A small house, dating to around 1500, with alterations in the 20th century. The walls are constructed of very small stone rubble and it has a gable-ended thatched roof. There is a brick stack at each end of the building. The plan originally comprised two rooms, with a smaller room to the right and an entrance lobby between them. The right-hand fireplace is a 19th-century insertion and the left-hand end wall has been rebuilt but may have previously contained an early stack. It appears to have been two storeys high from the outset, although the room proportions may have been altered, and some rebuilding of the front may have occurred.

The front elevation has a regular arrangement of 20th-century 2-light casement windows, some with small panes, and a 19th-century plank door to the right of centre, sheltered by a contemporary slate hood. The right-hand side of the front is slightly recessed. A 18th- or 19th-century lean-to thatched roof outbuilding is attached to the right-hand end with a door on the front.

The rear elevation features a rare original 2-light timber mullion window to the right, now blocked with round-headed lights.

Inside, the ground floor has very heavy chamfered cross beams with convex diagonal stops. The original roof structure consists of two pairs of raised crucks, which show no evidence of smoke damage. The left-hand truss has a morticed apex with a triangular strengthening block below. The right-hand truss has an unusual apex arrangement with a large saddle into which the tops of the principals are morticed, and a smaller saddle above it into which the diagonal ridge is notched. There is a light morticed collar close to the saddle. The trusses are constructed of very heavy timber, and the front rafter of the right-hand truss has dropped considerably.

The building's high quality of carpentry raises questions about its original function. Its proximity to a chapel of a similar date suggests a connection, possibly housing a priest. Alternatively, both buildings may be remnants of a larger complex.