31, New Street

No. 31, New Street is a house and former smithy dating back to the early 16th century, with significant alterations in the later 16th and 17th centuries, a 19th-century smithy, and a major modernization around 1985. The walls are said to be granite rubble with some exposed coursed granite ashlar, with granite stacks and chimney shafts and a slate roof (formerly thatched).

The building was originally a 3-room-and-through-passage plan house built along the street, facing east. A small, unheated room is located at the northern end. Both the hall and service end rooms have axial stacks backing onto either side of the passage. The original open hall house was divided by low partitions and heated by a central hearth. Over time, floors were added, starting with the service rooms and ending with the hall. A fireplace was inserted into the hall likely in the late 16th century. A fireplace was inserted into the service end room in the 19th century. The location of the original staircase is unknown. The house is now two stories with attics, and has later extensions at the rear, including a 19th-century smithy.

The front has an irregular 4-window facade, mostly with late 19th and 20th-century, horned 4-pane sash windows. A tripartite sash window is present in the hall. Fixed, un-glazed windows are found at the northern end. The front passage doorway, located slightly left of centre, contains a late 19th or early 20th-century plank door. The roof aligns with those of neighbouring buildings and has attic roof lights to the rear.

The interior was extensively refurbished around 1985, but evidence of the original layout remains. The oldest feature is the remains of the original 4-bay roof, with raised true cruck trusses, one of which survives intact. It features a cranked collar and mortices for threaded purlins, all blackened by smoke, indicating the original open-roofed design. The granite ashlar partition between the hall and the inner room might be an original partition. The inner room was likely the first to be floored over, though the ceiling was replaced in 1985. The ceiling formerly comprised axial joists with rounded ends projecting into the hall, supporting a jettied chamber. The hall stack was probably inserted in the late 16th century and incorporates a large fireplace with a long granite ashlar lintel and a chamfered surround which has been reduced in width, with a side oven added. A granite relieving arch over the fireplace appears on the first floor. Almost all of the hall ceiling was replaced around 1985, except for a roughly finished beam across the front of the chimney breast. The service end room contains a 19th-century granite fireplace. The outshot to the rear of the hall still contains the 19th-century smithy furnace.

No. 31 New Street is part of a significant group of listed buildings along the west side of New Street.