Spellers Cottages

Spellers Cottages consists of two adjoining houses located on Acorn Street in Hunsdon. The first house, known as No 1, is a 16th-century cottage with two bays and may be the Warren House mentioned in 1667. This house was remodeled when the second house, No 2, was built in the early 19th century, creating a semi-detached pair. Both houses are two storeys high, featuring two gabled bays facing the road, with an entrance extension for No 2. They have tiled roofs with 19th-century red brick stacks. The cottages are timber-framed with rendered fronts and have 2-light iron casements with leaded lights. The doorways, dating from the 19th century, are topped with hoods. No 1 retains its original 16th-century roof, which includes a square crown post with slender curved braces leading up to the collar purlin, while No 2 has a 19th-century rafter and purlin roof. The Speller family, who were prominent in Hunsdon during the 18th century, likely acquired the property in the 1840s and may have been responsible for the additions and remodeling. These cottages represent a picturesque pair of semi-detached estate homes, formed by the extension and alteration of the original 16th-century cottage around 1840. They are part of a group that includes Spellers and Rosella to the northeast.