18 And 20, Lower Street

18 and 20 Lower Street is a house that has been divided into two cottages. It dates from the late 16th century or early 17th century and may have been remodeled in the late 17th century or early 18th century. The building was extended in the late 18th century or early 19th century and underwent further extensions in the late 19th century or early 20th century. The structure is built of coursed ironstone with rendered gable ends and includes a brick addition. It has a slate roof with gabled ends and truncated gable end stacks with brick tops.

The house is two bays wide, with the right-hand (east) bay being part of the original structure, which once extended further to the east. In the late 18th or early 19th century, another bay was added to the left (east), and in the late 19th century, the eaves of the entire building were raised. A small extension with an outshut was built on the left end in the late 19th or early 20th century.

The building is two storeys tall with a two-window south front. The south front features late 19th century 16-pane sash windows and an earlier 19th century 20-pane sash window on the left of the ground floor, all with wooden lintels. There is a late 19th or early 20th century brick two-storey, one-bay extension set back on the left, with a single-storey outshut on the front. At the rear (north), there are late 19th century 6-pane sashes on the first floor, a casement window on the left of the ground floor, and a 20-pane sash on the right with two doorways between them; the right-hand doorway is blocked, while the left has a plank door. The late 19th to early 20th century extension on the right includes a glazed porch.

Inside, the right-hand (east) room features a large fireplace with a chamfered timber lintel, which appears to be a reused floor beam. There is a small 18th century cupboard on the left with an arched fielded panel door, H-hinges, and shaped shelves, as well as a chamfered axial ceiling beam with stops. The back of the right-hand room has been partitioned to create a small stair hall, which includes a bolection-moulded two-panel door beside the stair and a fielded-panel cupboard door. The roof space has not been inspected, but it is said that an original truss and possibly smoke blackening may still exist.