Seal Point And Cottage Adjoining At North West

Seal Point and the adjoining cottage, located on Christow Dry Lane, date from the mid to late 17th century, with some alterations made in the 20th century. The buildings are constructed of whitewashed rendered cob and stone, topped with a thatched roof that has half-hipped ends. There are back-to-back fireplaces in an axial stack that project through the roof to the rear of the ridge.

The layout consists of a single-depth, two-room plan house (Seal Point) on the left and a one-room plan adjoining cottage, which may be slightly later, on the right. Seal Point features two heated rooms with back-to-back fireplaces, likely a parlour on the left and a kitchen on the right, with the entrance located at the front on the left. A newel stair at the rear of the left-hand room has been remodeled with an extra flight in the 19th or 20th century. The adjoining cottage, which was not inspected, is probably a one-room plan and has a tiled lean-to clad in corrugated iron at the right end.

The exterior stands two storeys high with an asymmetrical front that has three windows on the left and two on the right. There is a thatched gabled porch for Seal Point on the left and a 20th-century porch with a front door for the adjoining cottage. The windows are timber casements with glazing bars, arranged in two and four lights.

Inside, the left-hand room features a chamfered crossbeam and a fireplace with a chamfered lintel supported by a plastered-over corbel. The newel stair has timber treads and risers within the rear outshut. The right-hand room contains an open fireplace with a scroll-stopped timber lintel and a brick-lined bread oven. The roof apex was not inspected, but the principal rafters visible on the first floor appear to be straight.

Seal Point and the adjoining cottage are part of a group of early houses located at the higher end of Christow.