Heather Cottage Lower Hathershelf

Heather Cottage in Lower Hathershelf is a house, now divided into two separate residences, dating from the early 17th century. It was initially built for Robert and Mary Swaine, as evidenced by the initials “R M S” and the date 1671 carved into the stonework. The house is constructed of large dressed stone with a stone slate roof. It follows a three-room through-passage plan with a projecting western cross-wing that is flush at the rear. All windows are double chamfered mullioned. The gabled cross-wing features a 9-light window with a king mullion (6+3) and a hoodmould. Above this, on the first floor, is an 8-light mullioned and transomed window with a stepped hoodmould, which continues over a blocked former taking-in door with monolithic jambs. Decorative gothic coping with a finial adorns the gable. The left return wall has an 8-light chamfered mullioned window, above which is a first-floor window of 9 lights with closer-spaced mullions. Disturbed stonework is visible to the right of these windows. On the right return wall, there is disturbed stonework indicating the former location of a lateral stack, now replaced by an internal stack. The hall boasts an impressive 18-light mullioned and transomed window, topped with a hoodmould featuring initials to the left and the date to the right as decorative label stops. A gabled dormer with coping, a finial, and a window with a chamfered surround sit above the hall window. The doorway has a Tudor arched lintel with a stop-chamfered surround. Above this is a window with plain stone surrounds. The service wing is gabled with coping, kneelers, and a finial, and features an 8-light window with a king mullion. Above this, on the first floor, is an 8-light mullioned and transomed window with a hoodmould. Two stacks are visible on the ridge, either side of the through-passage. A single-storey outshut is located at the rear, set between the gabled wings. Inside, the rear of the through-passage contains a heavily jowled post on a stylobat. The main room, or housebody, retains scarf jointed spine beams, with evidence of a former bressumer which was removed during the construction of the large hall window. The building appears to have originated as a single-aisled timber-framed hall with an added stone cross-wing, likely built in the early 17th century. The hall was then encased in stone in 1671.