The Old Thatch

The Old Thatch is a house dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries, with a substantial rebuild in the late 18th century, followed by restoration and extension in 1978-9. The house is timber framed, with outer walls constructed of brick and cobble, and a thatched roof. It has a two-unit lobby-entry plan with front and rear aisles, and is one storey high with an attic. A board door is positioned on the right side of the front elevation, alongside two side-sliding sash windows with 12 and 24 panes respectively. A short corner stack and a hipped roof are visible to the left, and a gable end stack to the right. A two-bay, single-storey addition dating to 1978, with a pantile roof and small-pane windows, sits to the right. The rear elevation features 20th-century brick walling, a central board door, a small two-pane window to the left, and a ten-pane side-sliding sash to the right. A projecting wing was added in 1979 to the left. On the left return, an attic storey is lit by a 12-pane side-sliding sash beneath the eaves, which are higher than the side walls. Visible on the exterior are a pair of timber principal posts with long braces, one of which is partially covered by cement.

The interior retains significant remnants of the original timber-framed house, including three pairs of principal posts with braces and tie beams, positioned inside the line of the outer walls. These posts create aisles to the front and rear, utilizing the space under the steeply pitched roof. Entry is via the side of a large stack, supporting a timber bressumer that carries the joists of the main living room. The room far left has a corner fireplace. The upper floor features tie-beams and principal posts constructed from reused timbers, and rafters of substantial size. This is a rare example of a double-aisled small house. The building was documented in detail by the North Yorkshire and Cleveland Vernacular Buildings Study Group before the 1978-9 restoration, as recorded in Report Number 294, 1977.