Fern Cottage

Fern Cottage is a cottage dating from around 1500, with alterations and additions from the 17th century, as well as renovations in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is constructed of timber framing with a plaster finish, topped by a red pantiled roof and featuring a red brick ridge stack. The cottage has one storey and an attic, originally designed with a three-unit plan that includes an open bay. It has been extended by one bay to the east and has a modern outshut on the east and north sides. The exterior includes two 20th-century doors, one casement window on the left, and one canted hung sash bay window. There are three flat-roofed dormer windows with casements.

Inside, substantial timber framing is exposed in the floored bay of the west room, showing evidence of one of possibly two doors in the east closed truss of the hall. There is also evidence of an open hall in the smoke-blackened timbers of the west closed truss. The chimney stacks and floor frame in the hall date from the 17th century. The staircase features flat balusters and faceted finials on the newel posts, and the roof was replaced in the late 17th century. An original first-floor blocked mullioned window is also present.

The building shares a similar plan with No 15 North End, Bassingbourn-cum-Kneesworth.