The Cottage

The Cottage is a house dating to 1689, with 19th-century window openings and unsympathetic alterations from the late 1970s, including pebbledashing and replacement windows on the sides and rear. It is constructed of brick, with pebbledashing and a Welsh slate roof. The house follows a three-room plan with a lobby entry to the left. It is two storeys high with an attic, and has three bays. A 19th- or 20th-century sandstone plinth runs along the front. The entrance has a 20th-century doorcase containing a four-panelled door, flanked by 12-pane sliding sashes with frosted glass, one to the left and two to the right. A wide stucco band runs across the first floor, supported by partly-restored cyma reversa moulded brick corbels. Above the entrance is a moulded terracotta or carved stone segmental pediment, carried on shaped brick corbels, containing a recessed square panel with the inscription "1689 E T D" and two hearts in relief. A moulded brick eaves cornice runs along the top of the wall, with deep 20th-century eaves. The gables have rebuilt brick copings and end stacks to the right, and an axial stack to the left. 20th-century wing walls to either side are not of special interest. The left gable end has 20th-century two-light casements inserted on both the ground and first floors, and a single similar attic window. The right gable end has a pair of 20th-century inserted narrow attic casements. The rear, facing the River Trent, has a 20th-century glazed door, and 20th-century two-light and three-light casements. A first-floor band with 20th-century corbels is present, along with the original corbelled eaves cornice. There are three large plain skylights. The interior has largely been remodelled and contains chamfered spine beams. It is believed to have been built for the Everatt family, recorded at Kelfield in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The Cottage is an important survival, reflecting the local influence of 17th-century Dutch drainers, and is the only example of a house of this period with curvilinear gables in South Humberside, though it is diminished by the 1970s alterations.