No. 1 Croft Cottages And The Cottage

TM 07 SW 3/113

WATTISFIELD THE STREET (WEST SIDE) No.1 Croft Cottages & The Cottage

GV II

House, divided into 2. Early C17, with indications of an earlier core. Timber-framed and rendered; colour-washed brick laid in rat trap bond to left gable end; thatched roof with decorated ridge, half-hipped on left; an internal chimney-stack with a plain shaft of old red brick, and an external stack with rendered shaft on the right gable end. 2 storeys and attics; 3-cell form. 2-light small-paned C20 casement windows and plank door. A small single-storey extension, rendered, with roman tiles, projects from the left end of the front: this was the former parish Reading Room. No.1 occupies 2/3rds of the range, with a 2-cell division inside. To the left of the stack, 2 bays with evidence of alterations: a tie-beam has been removed; housings for a 4-light diamond-mullioned window on the upper front wall; joists of ceiling to ground floor resting on clamps, so possibly inserted. The large main beam has a chamfer with lamb's tongue stop and bar. To the right of stack, end wall exposed: good studding, long arched braces. Open fireplace with plain timber lintel to ground floor left, and a small upper fireplace. Attic to left of stack with poor clasped purlin roof which may be a replacement. The fill occupies the 3rd cell of the range: one 2-light window to the upper floor and one 3-light to the ground floor, both c.1980 casements with arched heads to lights. A single-storey lean-to on the gable end contains the C20 plank entrance door. Interior with good close-studding. In the partition wall a blocked 4-centred doorway with arched spandrels; ground floor ceiling with heavy unchamfered joists and a chamfered main beam with cut-off stops and small solid supporting braces. The gable-end fireplace has a plain cambered lintel with chamfer and cut-off stops to match the main beam. Beside it, the remains of a 3-light diamond-mullioned window, and evidence for another in the room above. Only rafters exposed in the attic.

Listing NGR: TM0098774237