Arley Cottage

Arley Cottage is a house dating back to the 16th century, with significant alterations in the mid-19th century. Originally a three-bay timber-frame house, it was extended in the late 18th century and the mid-19th century, creating an overall T-shaped plan with a service yard attached to the northeast. The mid-19th century work gives the cottage a Picturesque Gothic style. The northwest elevation, facing the drive, features a timber attic window with two lights above three-light windows, all with small panes and Gothic heads. Decorative cusped bargeboards with finials adorn the gables. The southwest elevation, facing the garden, has similar fenestration and gables with ground-floor French windows. A late 20th-century conservatory has been added to the right. The rear includes a mid-19th century brick block with a six-pane sash window above a half-glazed door. The exposed timber-frame wing to the northeast displays square panelling and brick herringbone nogging, with staggered mid-rails indicating a blocked first-floor window. Inside, the 16th-century section retains chamfered beams and a trenched purlin roof, partly obscured by a collar truss. The mid-19th century interior is characterized by high-quality joinery and plasterwork, including a stone Tudor-style fireplace in the hall with the Woodward family arms. Marble fireplaces are found in the main ground-floor rooms, which are fitted with sliding and folding window shutters. Service rooms have mid-19th century cupboards and a plate rack, while the former kitchen has a blocked open fireplace and a bread oven. The cottage was remodelled in a Picturesque Gothic style around 1844 or shortly after 1851, when the estate was acquired by the Woodward family, and was subsequently used as a dower house.