Cottages To The Ne Of Westleton Grange

SAXMUNDHAM

841-1/0/10001 WASH LANE 24-MAY-05 Westleton (West side) Cottages to the NE of Westleton Grange

II Two cottages, probably originally one house. Late C17, refaced and altered early C19. Red brick refacing or underbuilding of timber-framing with pantile roof and brick central ridge and end stacks. Single storey and attic. Probably 3-unit plan originally. Front to road has a 2-window range of C20 wooden mullion and transom casements under brick segmental lintels. 2 C20 3-light Lincolnshire dormers over. Lean-tos and further casements on either end, the difference in brickwork on the gable end of the right-hand cottage suggesting the gable was extended before the lean-to was added. Door and 2 3-light casements to rear (door to right hand cottage is in lean-to and original doorway blocked. INTERIOR. Only left hand cottage inspected. Ground floor has bridging beams and joists, all chamfered and with ogee stops. Open fireplace and bressumer, now with later smaller one inserted, and large stack. Small straight stair to attic with simple top balustrade. Original roof rafters with cross bracing are visible up to collar level. Roof ceiled above. The rafters rest on the surviving wall-plates and a few studs and the gable end tie beam is also visible but the dormers may have been enlarged. Plank doors. This is a good example of the evolution of a late C17 house to early C19 cottages for agricultural labourers. Much of the main structure of the original house survives including the fine chamfered beams and joists in the part seen, and the general appearance of the the whole suggests they also survive in the other half. The continuous steeply pitched roof makes it very probably that the whole original roof also survives. The original timber-framed house evolved through the division and the wall refacing and underbuilding in the early C19, and there has been little alteration since.