Cottage, barn, coach house and stables, Norwood Grange

Cottage, Barn, Coach House and Stables at Norwood Grange

A mid-19th-century complex of agricultural and domestic buildings built to serve Norwood Grange, a suburban villa of the same date. The buildings are constructed of squared sandstone blocks laid water-shot with the upper edges angled slightly outwards, with ashlar used for quoins, kneelers, coping and dressings. The roofs are slate.

The complex forms an L-shaped range arranged parallel to Longley Lane around a small east-facing yard. It comprises a two-storey cottage with cellar on the east side, a double-height barn with a through carriage bay, and a long five-bay west wing of two storeys containing a central coach house with former stables to the left and stables or cattle byres to the right, latterly converted to domestic use. The first floor of the west wing was not accessible at inspection.

The cottage occupies the east side with its front elevation facing south-east, away from the yard. The two-storey elevation is L-shaped with a projecting gabled bay on the right-hand side and a recessed gabled bay on the left-hand side. A single-storey lean-to porch projects into the inner angle, featuring a Tudor-arched doorway with ashlar surround and a buttressed outer corner with ashlar quoins, kneeler and coping. The left-hand gabled bay is topped with a circular foliate corbel and shaped finial projecting above the coping. The ground floor has a large square-headed window, with two narrower arched windows above on the first floor and a small square-headed window to the right with small-pane glazing. The right-hand gabled bay contains a wide square-headed ground-floor window with a narrower square-headed window above. Most windows are currently boarded. The north side elevation displays a tall brick-built eaves stack and two windows (one ground floor, one first floor, both square-headed and boarded). The blind west elevation is attached to the barn. At the south side elevation, a single ground-floor window with a first-floor window above is visible. A stone ridge stack with moulded stone cap completes the cottage exterior.

The barn connects the cottage to the west wing. Its inner north face features a large segmental-arched cart entrance to the right of the cottage bay, with ashlar surround and giant keystone. The outer south face has a similar cart entrance to the left, now bricked up. The west gabled wall facing Longley Lane has ashlar quoins, kneelers and coping, with a square pitching door at first-floor level with ashlar surround.

The west wing faces into the small yard. The east front elevation has a slightly projecting gabled central bay topped with a matching foliate corbel and shaped finial. The ground floor contains a full-width segmental-arched cart entrance with ashlar surround and giant keystone. The first floor has a round-headed window with ashlar surround incorporating impost blocks and giant keystone. The two bays to the left each have a similar round-headed first-floor window, with a ground-floor doorway beneath each, flanked by square-headed windows with ashlar surrounds. The two bays to the right have single square-headed first-floor windows, with two ground-floor doorways flanking two square-headed windows below. Four stone ridge stacks punctuate the roofline. The blind west rear elevation has only a narrow ground-floor opening with ashlar surround to the left of centre.

The cottage interior features three ground-floor rooms and a narrow entrance hall leading to a stair bay on the west side. The staircase has a painted timber balustrade with square moulded newel posts, moulded handrail and stick balusters. The first-floor landing has a moulded cornice. The front room to the left of the entrance hall has an egg-and-dart moulded cornice. The cottage contains four-panelled doors, moulded timber door and window architraves, and timber shutters to the windows. The fireplaces have mid-20th-century chimney-pieces. The first floor was not inspected.

The barn comprises three bays with two king post roof trusses with raking struts. The timbers are machine-sawn with metal bolts, and there is a single row of tusk-tenoned purlins to each side.

The west wing's central coach house has a single cross beam and boarded ceiling with a boarded back wall. The north side wall features a brick chimneybreast with a small fireplace, possibly inserted. The right-hand bays now interconnect on the ground floor and are fitted out as two cottage rooms with plastered walls and plate racks, with a narrow staircase to the first floor at the rear of the left-hand room. The left-hand bays and the first floor of this wing were not inspected and were not accessible.