West Cottage At Shepherds Dene

West Cottage at Shepherds Dene is a cottage built in 1907, designed by W Dixon, architects, of Newcastle, with alterations made in 1928 and subsequently. The construction features snecked sandstone with ashlar dressings, and a roof of graduated stone slabs with a roll-moulded stone ridge. A south-facing verandah incorporates a stone platform, a timber superstructure, and a stone slate roof.

The cottage is two storeys high, with a central doorway and two windows. A projecting four-light, square-plan timber window sits on a stone plinth within the structure of the verandah, extending to the right in front of the door and the right-hand window. A modern door replaces the original, and the doorway has been widened. The remaining windows on the front are three-light designs featuring stone mullions, plain sills, and lintels, with alternate block jambs. Ground floor windows include transoms with leading in the upper parts. First floor windows are accommodated within gabled dormers, with vent slits. Chimney stacks at each end have projecting coping and moulded round, yellow pots.

The east gable has two ground floor windows, one of three lights with stone mullions, and one single light, and two first floor windows, one single and one two-light with a stone mullion. The west gable is similar, but without the single-light ground floor window. A rear yard is enclosed by a wall continuous with the house. A rear entrance door on the east side serves as a back door to the house.

Inside, the layout is fairly symmetrical, with four rooms on each of the ground and first floors. A former central corridor leading to the front door was removed to enlarge a room in the left-hand bay. A fireplace in this room survives, retaining a 18th-century style similar to those in the main house at Shepherds Dene. All windows are original, with fittings mirroring those of the main house. The rear upper rooms are built into the eaves, which form a catslide roof down to ground floor level at the rear.

In 1928, the cottage was divided into two dwellings, introducing a rear door on the east gable end as the entrance to one half. It is likely that the removal of the central corridor occurred at the same time. The cottage was later restored as a single house and remains so today.

West Cottage is part of a collection of buildings on the Shepherds Dene estate, which, though physically separated, share similarities in date, building materials, and overall style.