Brookside Cottage

Brookside Cottage

Brookside Cottage is a timber-framed and brick cottage, aligned north-west to south-east, with its principal elevation facing south-west onto Peppercorn Lane. The building comprises a substantially altered structure spanning from the late 16th or early 17th century to the present day.

The original dwelling consists of two bays dating to the late 16th or early 17th century, constructed with timber framing, rendered wattle-and-daub and brick infill. A single-bay addition was made in the late 17th or early 18th century, followed by a further single-bay addition in the early 20th century. A late-20th-century addition has been built to the rear. The building stands on a tall plinth of limestone rubble and is roofed with steeply pitched thatch. The chimneys are constructed of coursed limestone rubble with upper sections rebuilt in brick.

The exterior of the original two bays displays two exposed late-16th or early-17th-century box-framed panels running from sill to wall-plate, with short straight braces in the upper corners. The later 17th or 18th-century addition is painted limestone rubble and brick. A projecting entrance porch was added to the front in the 19th century and was partially rebuilt and extended in the early 20th century.

Windows are predominantly mid-20th-century metal-framed casements. The ground floor of the original range contains a 2-light casement separated from a large 3-light casement by a former doorway, subsequently blocked in the late 20th century with a smaller 3-light timber casement. The main entrance, located in the left-hand return wall of the entrance porch, comprises a plank and batten door with moulded fillets and a small glazed window. The upper storey features two eyebrow dormers: one to the original range with a 3-light casement, and one to the later 17th or 18th-century extension with a pair of 2-light casements. The early-20th-century addition incorporates a 1:3:1-light canted bay window under a thatched hood to the ground floor and a 3-light casement above. A rendered limestone rubble external stack stands at the left-hand gable end with a 2-light casement; the original right-hand gable end stack was enclosed by the later 17th or 18th-century extension, with its upper section now visible as a ridge stack and rebuilt in brick.

The rear elevation includes a late-20th-century half-hipped gabled cross wing projecting from the right-hand end of the original range, and a late-20th-century conservatory built against the remainder of this range and part of the later 17th or 18th-century bay. Ground-floor windows at the rear comprise a single-light casement to the early-20th-century range, a 2-light casement set beneath a large stone lintel to the later 17th or 18th-century extension, a 3-paned timber window within one of the original box panels (now enclosed by the conservatory), and a 2-light casement to the gable end of the late-20th-century addition. The upper storey contains two eyebrow dormers to the main range and a large eyebrow dormer with 2-light and 3-light casements to the upper storey return wall of the late-20th-century addition.

Interior

The main entrance leads through the later 17th or 18th-century extension, now used as a dining room. This space contains an arched opening, possibly a bread oven, and a large chamfered ceiling beam. A late-20th-century timber staircase rises to the upper storey. A former external doorway in the right-hand return wall, retaining its original glazed side window, provides access to the early-20th-century extension.

The original dwelling, accessed via a late-20th-century remodelled doorway in the left-hand return wall, is now used as a sitting room. This section retains a substantial proportion of late-16th and early-17th-century features, including stopped chamfered ceiling beams and joists, exposed box framing, and limestone rubble walling. A large inglenook fireplace with a timber bressumer is a notable feature. A late-20th-century timber staircase provides access from this room to the upper storey.

The upper storey of the original range retains exposed rafters, purlins and braces of a trenched-purlin roof. The former right-hand gable wall contains two original attic windows with leaded glazing. The later 17th or 18th-century extension, remodelled as a bathroom in the late 20th century, remains visible through its roof structure with side purlins exposed.