43, East Street

No. 43 East Street is a late medieval house located in Ashburton. It was originally larger, extending further to the right and possibly to the left, but has been remodeled in its current form, likely in the 18th century. The building has been superficially altered, and a rear addition was probably added in the 19th century. The front wall is very thick and roughcast, topped with a slated roof. A red-brick chimney from the 19th century is situated on the left gable end, while a large rendered chimney with a tapered cap is located on the rear wall to the left.

The house has a two-room-and-cross-passage layout with a 20th-century staircase at the rear of the passage, which is off-centre to the right. This medieval-type plan likely dates back to the late 17th century. The building has two storeys and is three windows wide. The central entrance features a four-panelled door, with the two lower panels flush and the two upper panels now glazed. The ground floor windows are fitted with two-paned sashes in recessed box-frames, while the upper storey windows have 20th-century metal casements. The eaves are coved.

Inside, the left-hand ground floor room contains a partly blocked 16th-century fireplace in the rear wall, featuring a chamfered and moulded wood lintel. Above the chamfer, there is a deeply sculpted hollow moulding and the remnants of a former cornice. The room also has an early or mid-17th-century ceiling beam that is ovolo-moulded, adorned with Tudor roses and lozenges carved on its soffit, and scroll-stops at the left end. The right side of the chimney breast is curved, likely indicating a former staircase. The room to the right has a mid or late 18th-century panelled door with flush bottom panels.

The roof retains a nearly complete set of four or five blackened trusses, likely sooted from an open hearth. While most of the trusses have been altered, the right-hand truss remains in its original condition, featuring a cranked collar and threaded purlins, with no ridge. Some purlins are still present elsewhere in the roof. A 19th-century lath and plaster wall is located at the right-hand end next to No. 45, while a thin stone rubble wall is found to the left next to No. 41. It is possible that No. 2 Hurst Court may have originally been the rear wing of this house.