Cobble Cottage

COBBLE COTTAGE

House. Circa 1500 timber-framed building refaced in the early 19th century. Exterior clad in stucco with incised lines. Steeply-pitched old tiled roof with gablet to the right and large hipped dormer to the left. Moulded eaves cornice. Two storeys with 2 windows. Sixteen-pane casements in moulded architraves to the first floor. Ground floor has 2 large 19th-century shopfronts with 8-panes, reeded corners and half-glazed door. To the left side is an early 19th-century door with 3-pane fanlight, 4 reeded panels and step to street. This is reputed to have been a through passage within living memory.

Interior has exposed close-studded beams. On the first floor in the original parlour are painted beams at ceiling level consisting of a frieze of panels incorporating black-letter inscriptions and enclosed by a "twisted rope" border in red with black outline. The decorative sequence between the panels features a stylised Tudor rose, a three-feather motif and a roundel with the initials EP for Edward Prince of Wales, later Edward VI. This dates the scheme to either 1537, the date of his birth, or 1547, the date of his accession to the throne. The words that can be made out are as follows: "evermore love god and hem ever dreade ever Jesu above all... ... in heaven shall be thy dwellyng do good wyth thy handes the deade hath no... man wythout ...shall [?] meet hett [it]well amende".

In January 1992 evidence of a wall painting scheme was found below the painted beam on the north wall, but at the inspection date only 3 sections had been uncovered to minimise damage, given the fragile condition of the original paint. Exposed chamfered beams and curved tension brace are present. An 18th-century staircase is retained. The attic has old oak floorboards and rafters with collar beams. 16th-century wall paintings on beams are quite rare and can only very rarely be accurately dated.