Blackmore House Cottages

Blackmore House Cottages is a house, dating back to the 17th century, with alterations made in the 19th century. Originally known as Chalk Farmhouse, it is located on Hook End Road, Blackmore. The front facade was rebuilt in the early 19th century using red brick in a Flemish bond pattern, while the rest of the building retains timber framing, weatherboarding, and some roughcast rendering. The main range has three bays facing north and a brick stack at each end. The house is two storeys high. There is a two-storey wing added in the early 19th century to the rear left and a late 19th-century single-storey extension beyond.

The ground floor has two early 19th-century sash windows with 8 panes in each upper and lower section, each with a flat brick arch. The first floor has one matching sash window and a 20th-century replacement window with 6 panes above and 6 square panes below, fitted within the original opening. A central doorway, also from the early 19th century, features simple pilasters and a moulded hood supported by double profiled brackets. This doorway was converted in the 20th century into a full-height sash window with 6 panes above and 9 below. A 20th-century door is set into a small projection to the left of the left-hand window. A plain parapet sits atop the building, and late 19th-century perforated ridge tiles adorn the roof.

On the right-hand stack, the brick shafts are arranged diagonally and partly concealed by the adjacent, unlisted number 3. The left-hand stack is constructed from 16th/17th-century bricks, extending approximately 2 metres in height before being largely rebuilt or refaced. A key feature is that the wall in front of the left stack aligns with the stack's outer surface, while behind, it aligns with the stack's inner surface. Some roughcast render appears in the gable end.

Inside, a boxed transverse beam runs between the left and middle bays. There is an unchamfered beam between the middle and right bays, and a chamfered axial beam with lamb's tongue stops in the right bay. A single jowled post is visible, along with cambered tie-beams. The interior also features 20th-century fireplaces. A 17th/18th-century garderobe, situated on the first floor in front of the left stack and integrated with it, is a rare survival, featuring a bricked-up seat.

The property was shown on an estate map from 1832 as belonging to Mr. Chaulk and identified as item 14, Chalk’s Farm, in the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments records.