16 (Old Court House), 17 and 18 Middle Street

A row of three cottages, likely originally one larger house, with probable origins in the 16th century but largely dating to the 18th century and later. The construction is of random squared Ham stone, with some ashlar dressings; the roof is double Roman clay tiles with high stepped coped gables, suggesting a former thatched covering. Brick chimney stacks are located at the ends and between the cottages. The overall plan is ‘T’-shaped, and the building is two storeys high, with a total of six bays.

Number 18, to the north, has a single bay. The ground floor features a two-light casement window from the 19th century with small panes of glass. To the right is a boarded door within a substantial frame, accessed by four steps. A rear extension has a three-light, rectangular, leaded casement window on the first floor, featuring a wrought-iron opening light set under a timber lintel.

Number 17 has two bays; the lower bay of the first bay contains a 20th-century steel window. The second bay has a single-light window recessed and chamfered, with no hood mould, containing an early iron-framed opening light. A partly glazed 20th-century door, set within a heavy frame and accessed by four steps, is located to the left of the first bay, with three- and two-light leaded casement windows to the first floor.

Number 16 has three bays, with three-light casement windows to all bays except the first-floor centre bay, which has a two-light window. The first-floor windows are leaded casements with iron-framed opening lights, while the ground-floor windows are early 20th-century small-pane casements. A deep recess with three steps leads up to the lower part of the second bay; this recess has a flat, voussoired arched head within which is a moulded, cambered-arched heavy timber doorframe, likely dating to the 16th or 17th century. A matching arch is said to exist at the rear, although the interior of the building was not inspected.

Number 15, attached to the south gable, appears to be a late 19th-century addition and is not considered to be of particular interest.