25-26, THE SQUARE

Two single-storey cottages at 25-26 The Square in Dalston, Grade II listed. The building dates from the mid-16th century as a probable late-medieval longhouse, later converted into two separate cottages around the mid-19th century.

The structure is built of snecked sandstone and rubble with later brick additions, rendered in pebbledash, and covered with a slate roof. It is rectangular in plan with a small lean-to addition to the rear. The front elevation is divided into five bays, with No. 25 occupying the two left bays and No. 26 occupying the three right bays. Both properties have timber front doors with three longitudinal panels below small glass lights arranged three-over-two. The windows are sash windows with horns and glazing bars, with panes arranged two-over-two. All door surrounds, window sills and lintels are plain and painted. The rear elevation features a low, flat-roofed full-length later extension with two plain windows, one to each property, in the rear wall above the extension. The extension itself contains a mix of horned sash windows and later sash windows, with sills of both sandstone and concrete. The rear door to No. 26 matches the front doors in design, whilst the rear door to No. 25 is a modern timber and glass addition. A brick chimney stack is present to No. 26.

Internally, No. 25 comprises a living room and bedroom at the front, with kitchen, bathroom and second bedroom off a rear corridor. The living room fireplace is blocked with a modern gas fire installed. Part of a cruck frame is visible in two walls of the living room, and the attic contains numerous early roof timbers and a substantial cruck frame. A brick-built flue stands against the left sandstone dividing wall, and a modern brick-built firewall separates Nos. 25 and 26.

No. 26 has a living room and bedroom at the front, with bathroom, kitchen and second bedroom off a central rear corridor. Early timberwork survives in the living room, including parts of two cruck frames and a painted ceiling beam. The fireplace is a modern addition. The front bedroom contains part of a cruck frame, and its fireplace has been removed and blocked. The rear bedroom has a simple fire surround, and part of a cruck frame is visible in the central corridor. The attic contains a brick chimney stack and numerous early roof timbers, including three substantial cruck frames partly visible elsewhere in the building. Evidence suggests that the early front window openings were originally larger than they are at present.

The building is a cruck-framed structure that may originally have been constructed as a thatched-roofed medieval longhouse. Similar buildings in the area have been dated between 1489 and 1615. It is considered to be the oldest surviving domestic structure in the village. Several changes have been made over time, including the addition of a rear outshot, insertion of a brick chimney stack, removal of thatch and replacement with slate roofing, division of the building into two cottages, and modification of the front windows. Many of these alterations took place around the mid-19th century. In more recent times, the outshot was removed and replaced by a single-storey extension.