Lower Rabber

Lower Rabber is a late medieval cruck-framed hall house, with alterations dating to the 16th and 17th centuries. It is largely one-and-a-half storeys high. The front of the house is built of rubble stone, while the rear and end walls retain original framing clad in weatherboards. The roof is covered in stone tiles, with a central stack that features stepped top courses and a modern brick upper section. A small dormer window is visible under the front eaves. Two lean-to extensions extend from the rear; one has a stud wall from the 18th century, and the other is constructed of modern breeze blocks. Modern windows with large panes are fitted, and a canopy shelters the front door located in the left-hand corner.

Four main cruck trusses remain, likely defining the original size of the house and dividing it into a two-bay hall and a service bay at the northeast end. An additional truss is present, visible only in the upper storey and roof space, positioned between the open hall truss and the closed truss that separated the service bay. All the trusses show evidence of smoke blackening and have butted apexes; two have apex yokes. The central hall truss is arch-braced with double, chamfered spine beams with run-out stops. Above the collar, the truss is cusped to form a quatrefoil and two trefoils, partially cut through to create a later attic walkway. Two rows of purlins, chamfered in the upper hall bay, support long, wide-set, straight windbraces trenched into their backs. Original smoke-blackened rafters are also present. The three closed trusses display substantial square panel framing. In the partition wall between the hall and service bay, two original doorways remain with chamfers and mason’s mitres. The original partition wall dividing the service bay into two rooms also survives, as does part of the rear wall framing. The end wall of the service bay is blocked by a former door and window.

Alterations made in the 16th and 17th centuries involved subdividing the hall with square panel framed partitions and a segmented-headed door frame, as well as inserting a newel stair and ceilings. Deeply chamfered wall beams and closely set joists comprise the ceilings. A substantial inserted stack with back-to-back fireplaces sits in a curious location, likely belonging to a later phase of remodelling when a lean-to was added to the rear and two new doorways were roughly cut through to the service end rooms. The fireplaces feature ashlar jambs and moulded corbels, which may have been reused from the ruins of nearby Huntingdon Castle. The service rooms have ceilings constructed of rough joists, formerly trimmed to accommodate a back staircase that has since been removed.