Croston Cottage

Croston Cottage is a house dating from 1847, with additions made in the early 20th century. It is constructed of rendered brick on a plinth, with a Welsh slate roof and four plastered chimneys. The house is built in the Tudor Gothic style. Originally L-shaped, it is now square in layout. The west front, with three bays, has recessed two-light windows with glazing bars and intersecting tracery in the heads; the window above the recessed bay is set under a hood mould within a bargeboarded gable, and a similar window is found in the right-hand bay which projects forward. A central chamfered doorcase has a four-centred arched head above a half-glazed door. Above the door is a two-light window opening onto a balcony, topped with a plain parapet. Tracery features in the side windows. Inside, the staircase has square balusters, a mahogany handrail and a shaped open string. Two original fireplaces remain, complete with cast-iron grates, one with engaged columns, alongside four-panelled doors. Croston Cottage is considered to be the best-preserved example of the early speculator’s houses along Alderley Edge.