10 And 12 Harbidges Lane

This is a house, likely dating to the late 15th century, which has undergone several phases of remodelling during the 16th and 17th centuries. The structure is built of cob, rendered and partly rebuilt with course stone rubble, with later patching in brick. The roof is clad in corrugated asbestos, replacing original thatch, with some original thatch remaining; the northeast gable has coped stonework and remnants of a small finial. Stone axial and gable end stacks are present, with later brick shafts. The building’s layout is roughly L-shaped, consisting of a main front range incorporating a hall, passage, and a low south end, and a cross-wing at the north end, comprising three rooms. Originally open to the roof and heated by open hearth fires, the house later received stacks and floors in stages. The hall’s axial stack and chamber were likely created first, while the south end remained open with its own hearth. Further stacks and floors were added to the south end and cross-wing during the 16th or 17th centuries. An axial passage at the back of the hall was added in the 18th century. The east front is asymmetrical, with three windows; the right-hand gable features a blind attic window and remains of a small finial. Most windows are 20th century casements, except for three on the ground and first floor on the left, which are 19th century two-light casements with glazing bars. Two partly glazed doors are on the left, with the central door featuring a chamfered stone jamb. A section of the front wall was rebuilt in brick in the 20th century. The rear includes various 19th and 20th century casements, a 20th century porch, brick rebuilding under the eaves, and a projecting gable-ended wing on the left. Internally, the house appears virtually unchanged since the 19th century. The low end room includes an axial partition, roughly chamfered cross-beams, and a large gable end fireplace with a chamfered cambered lintel with cyma stops. The hall has a chamfered axial beam with straight cut stops and a large fireplace with a chamfered lintel. A panelled partition separates the hall from the axial passage at the rear. The two front rooms in the cross-wing have unchamfered beams, while the west end room has a chamfered cross-beam with cyma stops and a fireplace with a chamfered lintel and oven. The roof structure of the hall contains two bays with a central cruck truss, featuring tenoned collars, arched braces, struts, cruck blades joined by a yoke at the apex for a square-set ridge-piece, large trenched purlins, and curved wind-braces, all smoke blackened. A further cruck truss, with a halved and lapped collar and yoke for a square-set ridgepiece, separates the hall from the passage; pilaster infill is smoke-blackened on the low side. Two trusses over the wing have collars halved and pegged to cruck blades joined at the apex by large yokes for a square-set ridge-piece, with large trenched purlins and one curved wind-brace. Smoke-blackened thatch, rafters, and battens are visible where the two roof structures meet.