22, Townsend

22 Townsend is a Grade II listed building in Ilminster, originally built in the 17th century and extended to the left in the late 18th century. The structure features rough ashlar and limestone rubble with a steep pantile roof that has exposed rafter-ends. The right end block is higher and has stepped stone coping on the gable ends, along with tall brick stacks that have stepped brick cornices.

The building was originally a one-unit plan but was expanded to a three-unit plan in the late 18th century. It is two storeys high and has a four-window range. The first floor has three-light casements, with the leftmost window from the 19th century featuring two panes in each light, while the others are 20th-century with small panes. The ground floor, which is below street level, has four 20th-century two-light casements with upper vents to the left, and two 17th-century windows to the right that have hollow-moulded mullions—one is a four-light window and the other a three-light window, both with continuous label moulds.

On the right gable return, there is a small rectangular window at attic level, a two-light mullioned window with a label mould at the first floor, and a 20th-century window below. The interior shows evidence of its history as three cottages, with changes made around 1975. The right cottage features a large Moolham stone lintel above an open fireplace that backs onto the party wall of the ground-floor room. To the right of the fireplace is a passage, likely the former gable entrance through the thick outer wall of the middle cottage. The left-hand cottage retains an open fireplace that also backs onto the party wall and has a newel staircase to its left. A passage has been created to connect to the central cottage, which has reduced the width of the fireplace, with the lintel now resting on the passage wall. All cottages have chamfered beams, and the right-hand cottage includes a 17th-century exposed roof truss with trenched purlins, although the tenoned collar has been removed, and the ridge is set diagonally in a notch at the apex. Additionally, there is a well located in the south-west corner of the kitchen.