Smugglers' Cottage And Attached Walls

Smugglers' Cottage, located on Church Steps in Minehead, is a house that likely dates back to the early 17th century. It features colour-washed cob on a rubblestone base and has a prominent lateral stack at the front, which is offset below and above the eaves, topped by a very tall 20th-century brick chimney. The roof is hipped and thatched. The cottage has a three-unit plan with a passage to the right of the hall and a lower end to the right. Inside, there is a jointed cruck over the passage and a late medieval open hall that includes a 17th-century front lateral stack to the left of the passage. At the rear right, there is a pantiled outshut. The building has two storeys and is set on a sloping site with a two-window range. On the left side, there are two 19th-century two-light casement windows on both floors, with the ground floor cills at ground level. To the right of the stack, there is a 20th-century door with a 19th-century two-light casement window next to it.

Inside, the cottage features an open fireplace with a timber bressummer, which is likely a later addition. The jointed cruck over the passage has a ridge purlin set on a tenoned apex with splayed scarf joints to the purlins. The upper side of the truss, which was originally closed, and the ridge purlin are smoke-blackened. There is also a 17th-century truss with a ridge-in-notch at the two-bay lower end. The rafters, which still have bark, support the wheat straw thatch.

Additionally, there are subsidiary features, including rubblestone walls approximately 2 meters high that extend about 7 meters to the left and 5 meters to the right. Smugglers' Cottage is noted as one of the least altered vernacular houses in Minehead.