Church Cottage

Church Cottage is a house dating from around 1500, with alterations and additions from the 17th century, late 17th century, and 19th century, as well as renovations and an addition in the 20th century. The building is timber-framed, with exposed and plastered surfaces, and features a thatched roof. It has a red brick ridge stack and an end stack on the west side. The house is two storeys high, with a gable facing the street.

Originally, it had a three-unit plan with an open hall of one bay, which was remodeled in the early 17th century by adding a floor to the parlour and hall, along with a back-to-back chimney made of brick and timber framing. A late 17th-century extension was added to the east gable, and a 19th-century end stack was added to the west.

On the south elevation, there is a modern glazed entrance door on the north side, four ground floor sixteen-paned hung sash windows, and four first floor casement windows. Inside, the substantial timber frame of the original building is exposed, featuring two four-centred arched door heads, one of which is in situ, and a smoke-blackened collar-rafter roof. The 17th-century stop-chamfered cross-beams are visible at the inserted floor and the bressumer of the chimney. The exposed frame of the chimney is a rare feature, and a redundant lap joint may suggest that there was originally an aisle to the north. In the 19th century, the building was divided into agricultural workers' cottages, and its original plan is similar to that of No 26 North End, Bassingbourn-cum-Kneesworth.