Boyles Court Cottages

A pair of cottages dating from the mid-to-late 17th century, located on Dark Lane in Great Warley, Brentwood. They are situated at right angles to numbers 4 and 5 Dark Lane, which are also listed. The cottages are timber-framed and have been weatherboarded, replacing lath and plaster, with a peg-tiled roof.

The cottages are two storeys high, with a central shared red brick stack. Later end out-shuts have been added, each with a lean-to roof. The south front features sash windows with 4x4 panes on the ground floor and casement windows of 4 lights with 2x3 panes on the first floor. The upper windows were originally sliding sashes and were altered when the weatherboarding was added. Each house has a doorway with a simple lean-to porch supported by wooden posts. Number 2 has a four-panel door, while number 3 has a boarded door, both with beaded edges. The out-shut to number 2 has a slated roof and a 20th-century 2-light casement window with 4x3 panes. Number 3’s out-shut has a corrugated asbestos roof, a red brick stack rising through the roof, and also a 2-light casement window with 4x3 panes; the window frame is likely earlier with bead moulding. The rear, north elevation is weatherboarded and features symmetrical windows and doors added in the 20th century. Each house has a back door (number 2 is fully glazed, number 3 has a lower sunk panel and upper glazed panel). The out-shut has a 2-light casement window with 4x3 panes. Number 3 now includes a weatherboarded porch/conservatory with a flat roof and a top-opening casement window. The east and west gable ends are simply weatherboarded.

The interiors of both cottages display similar timber-framing, with slim timbers, straight tension braces on outer corners and in the central partition along the stack, and straight wind braces in the roof pitches. The cottages were built as a pair and remain minimally altered, forming a group with numbers 4 and 5 Dark Lane.