Old Beams

Old Beams, located at 5 and 6 Mount Street, is likely a 16th-century building that was originally a single house. It was later divided into two homes and briefly used as a pair of shops before returning to residential use.

The exterior features a timber-framed structure that is partially covered by lined-out render, with the timber framing visible on the upper storey and rear of No 6. The building has a slate roof and a brick chimney stack for No 5, while a similar stack has been removed from No 6. There is a large rear wall stack that is partly within a short brick rear wing. Each house has a doorway towards the center, with the doors having been replaced. To the right of the doors, there is a 2-light casement window (renewed in No 6), and to the left, a 6-pane shop window typical of the mid-19th century. No 5 features two small, closely-set 2-light casements on the first floor, while No 6 has similar windows that are more widely spaced and have been replaced in earlier openings.

Inside, the layout was altered when the original house was subdivided, which seems to have cut through the main hall of what was likely a three-unit building. No 6 retains the rear wall fireplace of the hall, featuring a cambered bressumer, along with heavy chamfered and stopped axial and transverse beams, and stop-chamfered joists. The layout suggests that there were once opposed entrances and a partition, with three small rooms to the right, indicating it may have included the service end of the hall. Stop-chamfered joists and an axial beam are still present in this section. The upper floor reveals exposed queen-post trusses in the gable ends, with curved braces supporting the central truss and a stop-chamfered purlin.

Despite the alterations, Old Beams retains elements of the character of an early timber-framed house, making it of considerable interest.