Westwick Cottage

Westwick Cottage is a house, originally divided into cottages, incorporating significant elements of an early medieval open hall house. The earliest part of the building dates to between 1184 and 1219, determined by tree ring analysis, with alterations and extensions in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was subdivided in the late 19th century and restored to a single dwelling after 1946. The house is timber-framed with later brick infill and casing, featuring a deep brick ridge stack at a stepped junction of the roofline, and a plain tile roof.

The building has a linear plan, reflecting successive rebuilds. The central section retains the remains of a two-bay aisled hall, with a two-bay parlour range attached to the west end, built in two phases.

The front (south) elevation is a stepped two-storey range of five bays, with a 20th-century kitchen extension to the east. The taller left-hand section has a low gable stack and small-paned two-light casement windows on both floors. The lower range includes a central stack and features casement windows of one, two and three lights. A doorway with a planked door is situated to the right of the centre.

The rear (north) elevation mirrors the front, but includes a lean-to outshut to the central bay of the lower section, with a doorway in the west side. To the left of the outshut is a 20th-century half-glazed door. A former arcade post of the open hall, now incorporated into the external frame and displaying remnants of carved decoration on its capital, sits to the right of the ground-floor window immediately to the right of the outshut.

The interior reveals much exposed timber framing, including a former arcade post now enclosed within the outshut. It also has substantial chamfered ceiling beams and, within an upper floor partition wall, exposed upper ends of passing braces that form part of the central truss of the former open hall, blackened by smoke on the exposed faces. Back-to-back hearths are located beneath chamfered bressumers within the central stack. The roof structure is a clasped purlin construction with heavy purlins and some curved wind braces.

Tree ring analysis by the University of Nottingham in 1997 confirmed a 240-year chronology for the timbers of the former open hall, suggesting a felling date for the timbers between 1184 and 1219. Historical analysis suggests an initial two-bay aisled open hall, with additional bays added at each end. In the 17th century, the house was enlarged at the west end and a chimney stack was inserted into the western bay of the original structure.

This is a complex, multi-phased timber-framed building containing substantial remains of an early medieval aisled hall, with the early date of which has been confirmed by dendrochronological sampling.