Barnfield Cottages, pump, front wall and entrance gates

Almshouses built c.1925-27 to the designs of Maurice Chesterton.

MATERIALS: brick, painted pale pink, and roof covering of reed thatch.

PLAN: the almshouses face south-east onto the road and are accessed through low entrance gates. The building contains six cottages arranged in a shallow U-shape plan with a pump in the centre.

EXTERIOR: the single-storey almshouses are in the Picturesque revival style. The building has a low, half-hipped thatched roof, the ridge of which has a further thickness of reed with a scalloped edge and pattern of sways. Six tall red brick chimney stacks with oversailing courses rise from the ridge, most of which have either been repaired or rebuilt to the original design. The long central range of the U-shape plan consists of four three-bay cottages which are reached via a shallow flight of semi-circular steps, some of the bricks of which have been repaired or replaced. The original timber front doors have six glazed upper panels and retain their cast-iron handles and letter boxes. They are sheltered under porches which have half-conical thatched roofs supported by two square timber pillars, and fitted timber benches on each side. The front doors are flanked by three-light casement windows, positioned directly under the eaves, with tile sills. The windows have plastic faced metal frames replicating the original leaded lights, and have timber shutters, painted white, which are pierced at the top by a single diamond shape. The two end cottages have two windows on the inner face, and the short return wall is lit by a four-light casement window with a keyed, semi-circular brick relieving arch. The front doors are situated on the rear elevations of these two cottages, and are flanked by two uPVC windows which do not have the replica leaded lights. The rear elevations of the four middle cottages are subsidiary. Flat-roofed brick porches have been built at a later date with stairs up to the back doors which have nine glazed upper panels. The windows are uPVC.

INTERIOR: only nos 94 and 95 were inspected internally (2013). The front doors open into a small hall with a tiled floor, flanked by a sitting room and bedroom, with a kitchen and bathroom behind, both with modern fittings. Most of the plank and batten doors and fitted cupboard doors survive with their iron latches and strap hinges. There are tiled window sills, and a dado rail in the bedroom of no. 94. The original fireplaces have been removed and lower ceilings have been inserted.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: the pump in the centre of the U-shaped almshouses is set on a circular brick base. It is sheltered by a conical thatched canopy supported by four square timber pillars. Opposite the pump to the south-east is a low, red brick wall and square gate piers (now overgrown) with timber gates.