16, 17 AND 18, NORTH ROAD

A row of three cottages located on North Road, Bideford, likely originating as a single house, dating to the 17th century or earlier and remodelled in the early or mid-19th century, with later 20th-century additions to the rear. The cottages have very thick, roughcast walls and steeply-pitched slate roofs. A rendered chimney was originally on the ridge between Nos 16 and 17, but diagonally set shafts have been removed. Number 17 has a single-room ground floor and two rooms above. The two-storey facade of Nos 16, 17, and 18 has a two-window range, with a doorway to the left of each window, the second floor window above the doorway being blind at Nos 16 and 17. The cottages have six-panelled doors. Ground floor windows are sash windows with two panes over two, featuring margin-panes and horns, set within box frames. Upper-storey windows at Nos 16 and 17 are two-light wooden casements with three panes to each light, all with margin-panes, and each has a small glazed gable with intersecting glazing-bars above. The upper-storey window at No 18 has a matching gable, but without glazing-bars; below it is a four-paned wood sash with margin-panes and a matching transom light. A moulded board runs below the eaves. The interior of No 17 reveals the lower part of old roof-trusses, displaying thin principal rafters rising from wall-tops with a chamfered cambered collar. According to a resident, the cottages were formerly occupied by workers from the Strand pottery.