Oldford Cottage

History: Probably early C17, and said to have been the residence of the town-clerk in the C17, and subsequently used as a prison and a poor house.

Exterior: Timber framed with painted brick infil; slate roof with brick gable end stacks. Box-framed with regular square panels with some arch bracing. Queen post and cambered collar truss visible in gable end. 2-unit plan with doorway towards centre: a plank door with moulded canopy hood. Flanking windows are small-paned iron casements, with similar windows in gabled dormers above. To the left, an outbuilding extension is timber-framed to the rear, and brick (painted in imitation of timber framing) to the front elevation, with some rubble in gable end. It was probably built as an agricultural outbuilding, though now forms part of the house.

Listed as a good surviving example of a typical vernacular timber-framed cottage, unusual in the context of the town, and retaining much of its early character.

Reference: Ion Trant, The Changing Face of Welshpool, 1986, p.107.