Malt House

A dwelling and workshop or store, originally a malt house, later a dwelling and pottery, dating from the 15th or 16th century, with 19th and 20th century additions. The original block is constructed of sandstone rubble, with some carved detail on the principal south front; the remainder is painted rubble, all under concrete tile roofs.

The original building is a two-storey block with a gable facing the road, followed by a later two-and-a-half-storey block forming an 'L' shape, with a 19th-century infill within the angle of the 'L'. The oldest block has an entry at the upper level accessed by external stone steps. It has one stone gable stack, and a second stone stack at a 45-degree angle where it joins the 'L' extension. The main front has a pointed cusped single light window at first floor in a square head with a drip, followed by two 19th-century two-light casement windows with bars, and a 20th-century door set in a 4-centred opening with a drip. The stone detailing is in a soft sandstone and is significantly worn. At ground floor, there is a rectangular light to the left, and a small single light in a chamfered opening to the right, with a flight of stone steps leading to the upper entrance. The gable return to the left has a two-and-a-half-storey section with a small rectangular casement in a worn stone surround in the gable, above a two-light casement with bars. There’s a pointed cusped light window with a square head and drip, also badly worn, set above two 20th-century casements at ground floor. A wide plank door is set deep within a 4-centred opening formed from two large stones acting as a lintol. To the left, a slightly projecting two-storey two-windowed wing has 19th-century two-light casements with horizontal bars and wood lintols, and stone cills; a central four-panel moulded door leads to a 20th-century porch. The return front has several small gables and a large gable, with various openings, including a 20th-century shop front to the left, and two small casements in chamfered surrounds to the right. A 16th-century stone doorway with a 4-centred, chamfered head, including the jambs, is positioned to the left of the principal gable. The roof has four bays with two purlins.

The interior of the original block has been extensively modified, but retains thick walls approximately 700mm thick and some wattle and daub partitioning in the open gable of the return block, as well as an open bressummer fire with a large square stone lintol over carved and moulded stone cheeks. The return block includes a right-hand spiral stone staircase housed in a cylindrical well, and a stone-paved passage leading from a 16th-century doorway. A stone doorway provides access from the internal staircase to the upper level of the original building. The building's historical development is complex, and it retains external significance; dates of 1360 and 1514 have been suggested by the occupant for the original block and later wing.