Steps House

Steps House, formerly known as Steps Farmhouse, is a large, detached dwelling dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries. It is constructed of rough render, with some painted rubble on the returns, and has a stone slate roof. The house has a U-plan, with a gabled wing projecting to the left and at the rear. It features twin gables facing the street; the left gable has coped kneelers and a ball finial to the saddle stone. There are two Cotswold gables to the south-west, similarly coped, and a coped back gable with a stone slack. A major stack is located on the ridge to the left of the main entrance, and another is situated on the back slope of the central section of the house. The building is two storeys and an attic, with a basement in the left wing. Small basement windows are visible in the left gable's plinth, above which the elevation has a single window, featuring a four-light hollow chamfer mullioned casement with drips, and a three-light wooden casement in the gable. A rough ovolo moulding lintel and wood drips are present. The central section has a recessed block with a broad, two-panelled door in a wide frame. The right gable has a single window with wood mullioned casements and modern wood drips, in a four, five, and four-light arrangement. The garden front (south-west) is three-windowed, and includes five-light casements on the first floor, a central modern door and porch.

The interior retains several original features, although fireplaces are largely absent, with the exception of a bolection-mould surround on the ground floor of the main gable at the rear of the left wing. A stone stair leads to the cellar, and two wooden spiral stairs are incorporated, including some solid treads to the kitchen stair at the second-floor level. Original heavy timber framing remains, along with remnants of wattle and daub infill and heavy haunched roof principals. A court cupboard from the time of George II features an open balustered top, and there’s a Jacobean-style salt cupboard with doors. The house was the residence of the Trotman family, who were woollers, during the Elizabethan period. A substantial rebuilding took place in 1618, and much of this fabric remains in situ.