Collabridge

This is a house located in Dunsford, with origins dating back to the early 16th century, followed by remodelling in the 17th century, likely in two phases. A later 20th-century addition extends to the rear. The exterior is colourwashed rendered cob on stone rubble footings, topped with a thatched roof; gables are present at each end. There is an axial stack, a right gable stack incorporating a bread oven, and a stack on the rear wing from the late 20th century.

Originally, the house was an open hall house of at least two rooms, with the lower end located on the right. The presence of a cob wall dividing the higher and lower ends, and the roof’s design, suggests the possibility of two open hearths: a medieval kitchen at the lower end and a hall at the higher end, which is an unconventional layout. The lower end room was likely floored before the hall, with a newel stair positioned against the front wall, and subsequently an axial hall stack was inserted, backing onto a through or cross passage. The current plan consists of three rooms and a passage, with the aforementioned 20th-century kitchen wing added to the rear of the lower end, and a narrow, unheated inner room containing a late 20th-century stair which replaced an earlier one. An unusual feature is a 17th-century rear doorway leading into the inner room.

The front has an irregular four-window arrangement. A 20th-century gabled porch with a tiled roof is positioned to the right of centre, featuring a Caernarvon-arched doorway leading to the passage. While the door jambs are replacements, the chamfered lintel is original. A single-light, two-pane window to the right of the doorway marks the location of the former newel stair in the lower end. Other windows are casements with two or three panes per light. A rear doorway into the inner room on the left side has a rounded arch.

Inside, the roof reveals smoke-blackening from end to end, demonstrating the historical presence of open hearths. Some common rafters, battens, and thatch have been replaced with 20th-century materials over the left-hand (inner) end. The roof features a single main truss, located above the hall and in front of the inserted stack. This is a jointed cruck truss, with the collar mortised into the principals and a diagonally-set threaded ridge. The arrangement suggests that the cob wall at the left-hand end of the lower end room, which projects into the roofspace, originally extended to the apex of the roof, functioning as a second truss, and that the heavy sooting of the lower end common rafters resulted from a second open hearth. The lower end ground floor room has an open fireplace with one granite ashlar jamb and one granite-faced jamb (installed in the late 20th century, with a replaced lintel), and an unchamfered cross beam. The hall fireplace is open, but the lintel and jambs are plastered over. During renovations in the late 20th century, a small, shuttered window was discovered on the first floor (right gable end) of the inner room, though it has since been removed.

The house is a particularly attractive example, demonstrating the evolving architectural style of the region.