23 Warren Lane, Lickey

This is a late 18th and early 19th century nailworker’s cottage with an attached workshop. The cottage is constructed of brick with a tile roof, and has timber and metal windows. It forms the northern half of a semi-detached pair, and is aligned roughly north-south, facing west.

The west front of the cottage has two windows on each floor; the ground floor windows have cambered heads and are three-light casements. The first floor windows are two-light casements, and above them are dentilled eaves. A projecting square bay, originally the main entrance, sits between the ground floor windows. A chimney stack rises from the rear corner. A single-storey projection containing the workshop and the current main entrance extends from the northern end of the cottage. The workshop has matching dentilled eaves, a large window in its northern elevation, and a tall chimney on its east side. A single-storey brick extension to the rear has a rear door and two windows.

The main entrance now opens into a small lobby to the side of the workshop, which is a single room containing a small partitioned-off pantry. A tiled fireplace surround, dating from the early to mid-20th century, is set against the chimney breast. An opening in the side wall of the original cottage provides access to the main living room, which occupies the position of the original winder stair. The living room retains a late 19th century fireplace range with an inbuilt cupboard to the side. The fireplace has a chamfered bressumer, supported at one end on a post now encased in later timber. A substantial chamfered beam runs across the ceiling, with ‘lamb’s tongue’ stops at the fireplace end. The ground floor windows have internally chamfered timber mullions.

A second downstairs room has a suspended timber floor, and provides access to the rear extension and the inserted stairs to the first floor. The upper floor contains two rooms, one with a large corner fireplace.