White Cottage

White Cottage is a house, formerly an agricultural labourer's cottage, dating from the mid-18th century. The building has been extended and refenestrated in the later 20th century. A north-east extension with garage, added circa 1980, a south ground floor late 20th century bay window, and a 20th century west porch are not considered of special interest.

The house is timber-framed and clad in weather-boarding, except for the east elevation which is of painted brick in Sussex bond. The roof is tiled with external brick chimneysstacks to the north and south. Windows are a mixture of 19th century wooden casements and 20th century wooden or metal casements, some with leaded lights.

The building is a two-bay house with end chimneysstacks, comprising two unequal-sized rooms on each floor, central stairs, and a rear outshot with catslide. The house is set endwise to the road. The main entrance, originally positioned in the centre of the east side, is now located in the centre of the west side. The east side is two storeys with three windows, and there is a catslide roof over the outshot to the west.

The east side features three late 20th century casements to the first floor and one to the south of the ground floor. The northern part of the ground floor was removed circa 1980 when an extension was added. The north side has an external brick chimneystack and two later 20th century ground floor casements. The west side originally had a catslide roof along the full width, but a central two-storey half-gabled extension was added after 1937 with one wooden casement on the upper floor. The ground floor has two late 20th century top-opening casements, a 19th century wooden casement, and a later 20th century half-gabled porch. The south side has two triangular-shaped two-bay 20th century casements and a ground floor 20th century brick bay incorporating an earlier lean-to weather-boarded privy.

The main entrance via the west porch leads through a 19th century plank door into the outshot. Facing are two doors: the southern door with ledged plank construction leads to a cellar with worn brick steps flanked by original partition walls. The northern door opens to the larger north room, originally the main living room with cooking facilities, which features a large open brick fireplace with gabled spice hole and wooden bressumer. Visible ceiling beams are thin 20th century replacements, though earlier beams above at right angles have been reported. The smaller dining room to the south, probably originally the parlour, had no exposed early features visible. A straight flight staircase leads to the first floor. The north bedroom has a wide doorcase with moulded architrave, four fielded panels, large L-hinges and iron latch. A cupboard in the north wall is built around the external chimneystack. The south room has a similar doorcase with four fielded panels. The central bathroom contained an exposed 18th century lath and plaster wall with diagonal braces at the time of inspection, though the bathroom roof is 20th century. There was no access into the roof of the original part of the building.

A document of 1840 in the East Sussex Record Office names Richard Walters as the owner-occupier. The cottage appears to have been an agricultural labourer's cottage in 1937 when it was sold off from the local farm. Pre-1950s photographs show a cottage with two sashes of mid-19th century type with central glazing bars and a simple central doorcase of four panels on the east side, with a rustic pergola.

In 1954 a garage was erected to the north-east of the cottage. In 1980 an extension was built to the ground floor connecting the original building to the garage, enlarging the lounge and providing a shower room, an additional bedroom, and a study.

The cottage is a mid-18th century two-bay end chimneystack house with rear outshot which retains a readable plan form, a significant proportion of its original fabric, and an original open fireplace and joinery, despite later extensions and alterations.