Jasmin Cottage

Jasmin Cottage is a timber-framed hall house, probably dating to the 15th century, which has been substantially altered and extended over subsequent centuries. A first floor and central chimney stack were inserted, probably in the 17th century. The building was largely re-clad in brick in the late 18th or early 19th century, with 19th and 20th century outshuts subsequently added.

The structure is constructed of timber frame with later red brick re-facing. The north-west extension has flint and clunch lower walls, with rendering to the upper storey of the west elevation and central section of the north elevation. Brick chimney stacks are present, and the cellar is constructed of brick, sandstone, flint and clunch. Clay tile roofs cover the building.

The cottage is rectangular in plan, internally of four bays, and orientated east-west at right angles to Church Street. It comprises one-and-a-half storeys with a low cellar at the west end. The medieval hall formerly occupied the central bays, and the 15th-century plan with two service rooms at the west end remains evident on the ground floor. The northern half of the wall dividing the western bay from the central bays survives, as does the spine wall dividing the two service rooms. The southern half of the dividing wall has been lost but is marked by a beam. A central double-flue chimney stack with a modern stair to its north is positioned in the hall, with a smoke-blackened roof and wattle and daub panel denoting the former open hall. Secondary chimneys are located at the east end of the south wall and west end of the north wall. Two single-storey outshuts stand on the north side of the building with a further outshut at the east end. The entrance, on the south side, has a 20th-century porch. The upper floor contains a room to each bay with a landing on the north side.

Externally, the building consists of a long narrow range with a half-hipped gable at the west end and straight gable at the east. The south elevation is of red brick laid in Flemish bond, with the west elevation, facing Church Street, in English bond with a plinth. The brickwork extends to the top of the ground floor window except for a narrow full-height section on the south-west corner, where the gable end is rendered, probably over wattle and daub. The east elevation has exposed timber frame infilled with differing brick bonds, including stretcher bond at the gable apex. Some 20th-century timber framing is evident on this elevation and some original minor members were lost with the insertion of 20th-century windows. The north elevation also displays exposed timber framing with rendered panels of brick or wattle and daub.

The fenestration is generally of 20th-century timber casements with multi-pane leaded glazing. The south elevation has four ground floor windows, three set in round-arched openings with brick voussoirs and tile sills, and a fourth western window in a square-headed opening. The centrally placed entrance has a 20th-century plank door with moulded fillets and a 20th-century gabled porch with tile roof, hanging tiles to the gable, low brick side walls and timber posts. The first floor has four gabled dormers with stretcher bond brick gables and rendered sides. The west elevation contains a centrally placed replacement modern uPVC window on the ground floor and another to the outshut, with a triple timber casement window inserted at the top of the gable in the 20th century. The east elevation has a 20th-century French door with paired double-height timber casement and small casement window to the first floor, also probably of 20th-century date.

The north-west outshut is of brick of several periods with a catslide roof and side entrance, featuring a uPVC window on the west elevation. The other northern extension is rendered with a sloping tiled roof and entrance in the western return. The eastern outshut is of modern brick in stretcher bond apart from the higher northern abutment wall, topped with a tile capping, which is probably of 19th-century date.

Internally, much of the timber frame is exposed. On the ground floor, the cross beam defining the western bay survives, although that to the eastern bay appears to have been replaced with a modern beam. Most of the axial ceiling joists remain intact, as do some posts and timber framing around the central fireplace, including both bressumers. The fireplace itself has been altered by the insertion of 20th-century brick fireplaces on either side, but given its scale and form the original structure may remain essentially intact beneath 20th-century plasterwork. Other framing elements including posts and braces survive in the north wall. Joinery and doors are of 20th-century date.

On the upper floor, the roof trusses are evident and are of queen post form. The tie beams, apart from that in the west gable, have been cut through to provide headroom, as was common when a floor was added. Queen posts, collars, arch braces, wind braces in the roof slope and wall plates are all visible. The wall plate on the south elevation has been cut through to incorporate the dormer windows. Some rafters have been replaced with machine-sawn softwood, but others are original and show signs of smoke blackening, visible only to the west of the chimney where a smoke-blackened wattle and daub panel also forms a closed truss. Some modern plasterwork is present but most finishes are of lathe and plaster. Joinery and doors are of 20th-century date.

The cellar, occupying the western bay and accessed by a trapdoor at its southern end, has walling of modern and historic brick, sandstone, flint and clunch. The lower stone courses of the western wall are thicker than the walling above.