Townsend House

Townsend House is a house with origins in the 17th century, but largely dating to the early 18th century. It is constructed with a roughcast front over limestone rubble, with dressings of Ham Hill stone, and has a double Roman tile roof with stone coping. The building has rendered stacks to the left gable and a lateral stack to the right of centre.

The building began as a single-unit plan, extended to the right with two additional units, and features two gable wings to the rear. The front elevation is two storeys with a three-window range. Most windows have hollow-moulded stone mullions, aside from a 20th-century inserted 2-light window above the door. Ground-floor windows have label moulds. A lateral stack is located to the inside-right, flanked by 3-light leaded casements. A 2-light casement is on the first floor to the far left, and a 4-light casement is below. The front door is set within an 18th-century Tuscan-style doorcase with a flat hood and panelled reveals. The right return has a mullioned window in the centre of the gable, and 6/6-pane sash windows to both floors, the ground floor window being a 20th-century replacement with horns. The rear elevation features a 17th-century two-light mullioned window with a label mould on the first floor to the right, a small pointed-arched window to the right of centre, and an 18th-century semi-circular arched stair window with margin panes to the centre. Two gables are present to the left, with moulded string courses above hoodmoulds to 17th-century stone mullioned windows – a 3-light window to the left, a 2-light window to the right, and a 2-light stair window between; one light of the ground-floor window on the right has late 17th-century leaded glass.

Inside, the attic retains original trusses with trenched purlins, with one purlin to each side of the gable wings and two to the main block; the ridge has a notch-in-apex. The room to the left has axial beams with run-out chamfers, an open fireplace with an oak lintel to the gable end, a newel stair in the corner to the left, which originally extended to the attic but now only reaches the first floor. An oval stairlight is located within the left return and the floor is laid with large stone flags. The central room has a quartered ceiling, with beams that were plastered over around 1820, and a corner fireplace with a limestone lintel; the stop-chamfered beams are ogee-stopped. The room to the right also has a corner fireplace with an 18th-century wooden surround. Both fireplaces in the right end are served by the lateral stack. The first floor has mostly early 18th-century two-panel doors with rimlocks, some pine plank-and-muntin type walls with ovolo moulding, and some late 18th-century doors.