Adam Bede'S Cottage

The property is a house, likely originating in the 17th century and remodelled and extended in the mid-19th century. The exterior is roughcast with a sandstone plinth, featuring clay tile roofs with fleur-de-lys crested ridge tiles. Ashlar ridge stacks are present; the stack on the primary range is circular, while the stack on the northwest wing has four clustered shafts, all of octagonal section.

The main range, aligned northwest-southeast, is probably of 17th-century origin and was remodelled in the mid-19th century. A mid-19th century northwest wing projects from the northeast face, forming an L-shape, with further extensions to the southwest.

The northeast elevation features a single storey and attic with a two-by-one bay arrangement. The main range is on the left, with a projecting gabled wing to the right, featuring carved shaped and bracketed bargeboards and a small-pane window on the ground floor. The main range includes a canted bay to the right, topped with a hipped roof and plate glass sashes. A small fixed light window projects slightly, with moulded base and top and carved jambs, positioned to the right of centre. A 20th-century casement is on the left. There are two gabled dormers with carved shaped and bracketed bargeboards and small pane horizontal sliding sashes, along with a small fixed light window immediately below the eaves to the right. The left-hand return of the wing has a canted bay to the right with a hipped roof and a central two-leaf half-glazed door flanked by plate glass sashes. A small-pane window is set to the left, and two gabled dormers feature carved shaped and bracketed bargeboards.

The northeast elevation further shows a northwest wing to the left, the gabled main range to the centre, and extensions to the right. The northwest wing has a small glazing bar casement to the first floor right and a central door with a bracketed hood crested in decorative ironwork. The gable of the main range showcases 20th-century top opening windows to the ground floor, a single-light chamfered mullioned window with a straight hood mould, and a two-light chamfered mullioned attic window. Extensions to the right consist of a projecting single-storey lean-to outbuilding in front of a recessed extension aligned northeast-southwest.

The interior includes an inglenook fireplace in the main range, mid-19th century carved woodwork, exposed ceiling beams, and one beam with figure-carved corbels. The cottage is named after the eponymous hero of George Eliot’s novel.