43 And 45, Bridge Street

Nos 43 and 45 on Bridge Street are a pair of cottages that likely originated as one house. They probably date back to the 16th century, but most of the early features that remain are from the 17th century, with later alterations made. The cottages have plastered and rendered cob and rubble walls, topped with a thatch roof that is half hipped on the left side and gabled on the right. There are two brick stacks, one axial and one at the right gable end.

The original layout is not entirely clear, but it is almost certainly that of a single house with two main heated rooms: the left room heated by the axial stack and the right room by the gable stack. Currently, each cottage has two rooms, and there is a likely late 17th century or early 18th century outbuilding wing behind the right-hand end.

The exterior is two storeys high with an asymmetrical five-window front, featuring three windows for No. 43 on the left. The two left-hand first-floor windows are set in small gables; the end window is a 17th century chamfered two-light wooden mullion with leaded panes, while the window to its right is a three-light 19th century casement. Beyond that is a tall 20th century three-light casement. On the ground floor, there are two three-light 20th century casements, and 20th century plank doors at both ends. The left-hand two-thirds of the house projects slightly from the rest of the building. At the rear, there is a 17th century three-light chamfered wooden mullion window. No. 45 on the right has a regular two-window front with 19th or early 20th century two-light casements and a central 19th century plank door. The thatched outbuilding wing is located behind the right-hand end.

Inside No. 43, there are chamfered unstopped ceiling beams and an open fireplace with a narrow chamfered wooden lintel and straight cut stops. The roof features one surviving cruck type truss, which may be jointed and has threaded purlins. Limited access to the roof space prevented a full inspection for smoke-blackening, but it is very possible that this truss is medieval.