Coopers Cottage

Coopers Cottage is a pair of cottages that were originally a Wealden house, dating from the late 14th century or early 15th century. The building has a two-storey, rectangular plan and is constructed with a timber frame and a brick facade, finished with render and topped by a plain tile roof. The left gable is half-hipped with a gablet. There is a chimney and fireplace from the 18th century. The cottage has seen extensions added in the 19th and 20th centuries to the right, left, and rear, and late 20th or early 21st century UPVC windows and doors have been enlarged and replaced, which are not of special interest.

The original frame remains intact except for the front wall frame. It features a three-bay Wealden house layout, with a single-bay hall flanked by single-bay jettied wings that are now underbuilt and share a single roof. The left-hand end contains service rooms and a cross passage, while the right side has single chambers on both the ground and first floors. Inside, there are chamfered beams with diagonal cut stops in the floor frames, arched braces in the wall and cross frames, and evidence of the jetty plate indicated by dovetail jointing at the jetty ends and weathered floor joists. A wide arched doorway leads from the cross passage into the hall, which features an exposed moulded beam. The roof structure includes crown posts with hip and jack rafters and longitudinal braces on slightly cambered tie beams.

This building is of particular importance as a rare example of a largely intact late 14th or early 15th century Wealden house, with a single-bay hall that has mostly survived in its original condition. The layout of the building is clear, and the carpentry and timber framing are of high quality.