Coachmans Cottage, 250M South Of Perrycroft

Coachman's Cottage, 250 metres south of Perrycroft, Colwall

A cottage dating from circa 1907 or 1908, attributed to the eminent architect Charles F A Voysey, with late twentieth-century additions. The building is constructed of white-washed roughcast with a plain tiled hipped roof and a large central brick chimneystack. Windows throughout are stone mullioned with leaded casements and plain drip moulds above. Decorative curved metal brackets are positioned at each of the four corners of the roof to hold the tiles in place, and the guttering is painted a distinctive shade of green.

The plan is broadly symmetrical, consisting of a lobby entrance house of two bays with one storey and attics. The principal south elevation features two hipped dormers. At ground floor level are four-light windows with wide stone surrounds and a central entrance porch with a hipped roof. It is unclear whether this porch forms part of the original design or represents a later addition in matching materials. The south wall of the porch contains a small slit window with stone surround, while the plank door with large iron strap hinges is positioned in the east wall. The east wall has a single-light window at ground floor level.

The rear garden elevation contains an off-centre hipped dormer and a late twentieth-century roof-light. The ground floor has a three-light window and a single-light window. A lean-to porch and veranda have been added to the ground floor; a horizontal scar-line to the right of the porch suggests it may have replaced an earlier structure. A one and a half storey garage extension with a steeply pitched roof and two timber windows to the attic storey was added to the west elevation in the late twentieth century.

The interior has not been inspected but is understood to largely retain its historic plan form and early twentieth-century fireplaces.

The cottage stands within the former estate of Perrycroft, a house designed by Voysey for J W Wilson, an MP and railway magnate, in 1893. Based on its composition and architectural detail, there can be little doubt the cottage was designed by Voysey. An earlier building with an L-shaped plan is shown on the site on the 1888 First Edition Ordnance Survey map; however Coachman's Cottage has a rectangular plan. Historical maps indicate that a path heading northwards on the west side of the earlier building was diverted following Perrycroft's construction to approach the main house from the south east. It seems likely that Coachman's Cottage replaced the earlier building and may have been built as a lodge or worker's cottage. Perrycroft's principal entrance and lodge, probably constructed in 1914, are situated to the north east of the main house.

The cottage is designated for being a substantially intact example in the Vernacular Revival style by the eminent architect C F A Voysey, retaining a wealth of his trademark features including white roughcast walls, stone window dressings, deep eaves, mullioned windows and a large hipped roof. It represents a well-preserved example of a specifically commissioned cottage for a wealthy patron and possesses strong group value with the nearby listed Perrycroft and its listed ancillary buildings, also by Voysey.