Saddler House And Spice Cottage

Saddler House and Spice Cottage are two dwellings formed from a circa early 18th century house, incorporating a circa early 17th century range. The construction is stone rubble with stone dressings, and the roof is tiled with clay pantiles and Bridgwater tiles, featuring gable ends with projecting verges. Brick chimney shafts are a later addition.

The house originally had a 3-room plan, with rooms at each end heated by gable-end stacks and linked by an axial passage. A straight staircase is located on the left side of an unheated central room. A 1-room plan range has been incorporated into the main house at the lower (east) end, and likely served as part of an earlier adjacent house, featuring a stair turret at the front. A C19 outshut, extended in the C20, is located behind the main range.

The north front is asymmetrical, with a 1:4 window arrangement. The right-hand section has sash windows with glazing bars in stone frames, including a two-light sash on the ground floor. Smaller first-floor windows also have glazing bars, and a plank door is positioned to the right of centre. The lower range is set back on the left, with a stair turret forming an angle, a sash window, and a plank door. The south rear elevation has various windows and an illegible datestone, along with a single-storey outshut extended to the left.

The right-hand room contains a slightly chamfered cross-beam with long cyma stops, a C20 chimney-piece, and an early 19th century corner cupboard. The left-hand room is ceiled and has a C20 chimney-piece with panelled cupboards on either side. The unheated central room also features a slightly chamfered cross-beam with long cyma stops, and a tall panelled door leading to the straight staircase on the east side. The lower east end room displays deeply chamfered cross-beams with large step stops, a stone corbel in the end wall, and winder stairs within the front turret. Panelled and plank doors are present throughout. C19 roof principals are exposed on the first floor.

This is an interesting early 18th century example of a house with an unheated central room plan, incorporating an earlier building.