Lower Delworthy

This is a late medieval house with alterations and an extension dating to around the early 17th century. It is likely constructed of cob on stone footings, with a thatched roof featuring a plain ridge and gables, and stacks on the left end and to the left of centre on the front.

Originally a single-depth main range of three rooms, the plan shows evidence of having been an open hall house, initially two rooms wide, open at each end, possibly with a passage entrance, with the lower end being the right side of the building. The lower end was floored first, followed by the hall, with a front lateral stack added at this time. A further room was added in the 17th century on the left end, incorporating a rear stair outshut built by breaking through the end wall of the original house, and slightly truncating the lower end room.

The front has an asymmetrical arrangement of four windows, with a 20th-century lean-to porch directly into the centre room. The windows are modern 2-light timber casements. Inside, the centre room features chamfered stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops, and both stacks have chamfered stopped lintels. The jambs of the left-hand fireplace have been rebuilt. A 17th-century chamfered stopped doorframe is visible on the first floor leading to the stair.

The original medieval roof structure has survived intact, including sooted thatch and battens. The trusses feature principals with curved feet, peaked collars mortised into the principals which are mortised at the apex with a diagonally-set ridge. A thick crosswall marking the left end of the medieval house shows soot on the right side, and a closed truss between the higher and lower ends of the hall shows soot on the left side. A vertical post in this truss is sooted on both sides. There is no main truss over the left-end room, although the scantling of the purlins suggest a late 17th-century date. This is a traditional house with medieval origins, notable for the completeness of the medieval roof.