Gildencroft

Gildencroft is a cottage located in Great Abington, dating from the 15th century, with alterations made in the mid-16th and 17th centuries. It features a timber-framed structure that is plastered, topped with a half-hipped thatched roof. The cottage is one storey with an attic and has a three-unit plan with original floored ends. There is a boarded door on the left side and five ground floor windows of various sizes, all with glazing bars. A large three-light ejjebrow dormer window is present, along with a ridge stack to the left of center made of gault brick and an end stack on the right side.

Inside, the cottage retains a substantial timber frame with wide braces that are trenched over the studs and nailed. The north gable features an interrupted tie beam. The posts of the display truss of the open hall are concealed by plaster, and the tie beam and braces have been removed to accommodate a 16th-century inserted floor, which includes a roll-moulded axial beam and joists. The joists are square-sectioned and laid axially in the northeast and southwest rooms. A large inglenook hearth with a shaped head to the niche and a complete baking oven, possibly from the mid-17th century, can be found. The roof above the original hall is a collar rafter design with smoke-blackened timbers.

The cottage is situated at the junction of the former road to Bourn Bridge from Linton, marked by a stone cross noted in the 19th century.