Including Attached Garden Walls And Steps And Railings And Gatepiers

This is an early 19th century cottage with later 19th-century interior features and a 20th-century extension to the rear, which does not possess special interest. The cottage is stuccoed with incised lines to imitate masonry, set upon a deep sandstone plinth which forms a cellar. It has a hipped slate roof with two hips to the rear and two rendered chimney stacks. The cottage is one storey high with a cellar and originally comprised two rooms at the front and rear.

The front elevation features two 16-pane sashes with narrow glazing bars, and a central doorcase with a four-panelled door, now protected by a later wooden tented canopy supported by piers with glazing between. Tooled stone steps lead from the front door and are accompanied by a cast iron handrail. A sandstone boundary wall runs along the front of the garden, featuring coved parapets, stone steps with a cast iron handrail, and three sandstone piers topped with pyramidal caps. The right-hand side elevation has a pivoting cast iron casement leading to the cellar, while the left-hand side has wooden French windows and a low cambered entrance with a wooden door providing cellar access. The rear elevation is brick, painted, and includes a 19th-century metal-framed casement, a casement window within an original wooden pegged surround, and the original cambered door surround with a four-panelled door.

Inside, the rear left room has a brick floor, suggesting it was originally the kitchen, with visible 19th-century brickwork to the chimney. The front left room contains a 19th-century wooden fireplace with green glazed tiles to the hearth and a 19th-century wooden cupboard with shelves above. The original softwood roof remains. The rear cellar is reached by a half-winder brick staircase with tooled stone steps, a cast iron handrail, and a newel post. A pivoting metal casement provides ventilation. The front cellar, accessible from outside, contains a row of six sandstone piers supporting the central spine beams with run-out stops.

Historically, the land was owned by Lord Pelham and shown on the 1817 Tithe Map as stables and gardens, later passing to the Lucas Shadwell family. In the 1841 Census, Nelson Reed, a blacksmith, occupied a property in Old London Road. A document from 1844 confirms the cottage and land were purchased from William Drew Lucas Shadwell by Nelson Reed, and the property subsequently became known as Nelson Cottage. The cast iron windows and railings may have been made by the Reed family’s business.