Church Cottage

Church Cottage is a 15th, 16th, and 17th century timber-framed building of an L-shaped design, representing two phases of construction. The original structure was a medieval hall of two bays with a cross wing at the south end; this was later extended by a long east-west range attached to the south. The roof is covered in red tiles, with a half-hipped section at the north end. The building exhibits a massive timber frame, featuring arched braces, with a jettied first floor to the east side of the cross wing and a jettied gable and first floor at the west end of the later wing. The infill is primarily red brick in English bond, with some brick walling using blue headers in Flemish bond. Windows are irregular, with leaded casements, several of which are original. A modern door in an old style sits alongside a 18th-century panelled door on the west end. Inside, a substantial fireplace is a later addition, containing a large stone fireplace with a moulded frame on the ground floor. One end of this fireplace features a half-column with a capital supporting corbelled stones, believed to be fragments of 13th-century work originally from Christchurch Castle. The first floor of the same fireplace features a stone fireplace with a chamfered four-centre arch. A modern garage extension, designed to be sympathetic to the original building, has been added to the north-east corner.