Holly Cottage

Cottage of late C17 or C18 date, extended in second half of C20. The 1960s north-east room and C20 north-west extension are not of special interest.

MATERIALS: the original part of the cottage is timber-framed, clad in weather-boarding, which was originally tarred. Hipped roof, originally thatched but now covered in asbestos sheeting, with off central brick ridge chimneystack.

PLAN: originally a single-storey, three-cell cottage of lobby entrance plan, the central cell a heated living room flanked by a large chamber to the north-east and a smaller chamber to the south-west, both unheated. The front entrance was in the south-east side opposite the chimneystack. Later a lean-to addition was added to the north-west. In the 1960s the original plan was modified by the removal of the partition between the living room and north-east chamber, the addition of a further bedroom to the north-east, and the replacement of the rear lean-to by a full length single storey flat-roofed rear addition. The original front entrance was blocked.

EXTERIOR: the south-east or entrance front is clad in old weather boards to the original part and has three C20 casement windows within original openings. There is a recessed doorcase opposite the chimneystack with a four-panelled door. The south-west end has similar old weather boards and one C20 casement. The north-west end is also clad in weatherboarding. The original north-west or rear elevation (now internal) has the timber-frame exposed with studs, curved tension braces and a ledged plank rear door. The C20 addition is rendered with three pivoting C20 casement windows.

INTERIOR: the living room has a brick open fireplace at the west end, stretching the full width of the room except for the lobby. The chamfered wooden bressumer has run out stops and retains the marks of the cooking crane. There is a gabled salt or spice recess. The western part of the ceiling has a spine beam with a one and a half inch chamfer and chamfered floor joists. To the left of the fireplace is an early C19 plank door into the lobby. The eastern part of the living room has a slightly chamfered spine beam but no chamfers to the floor joists. The front and back walls of the living room have exposed closely spaced studs, jowled posts to the original eastern corners of the cottage and thick curved tension braces. The eastern wall of the living room (formerly an external wall) retains the original mid-post and slender tension braces from the corner posts to the wall plate, although the other timbers have been replaced by brickwork. Entrance into the south-west chamber is through the lobby by a ledged three plank door with pintle hinges. This room also has jowled corner posts with curved tension braces. The floor joists here are at right angles to the living room floor joists. Both the living room and south-west bedroom have wide attic floorboards visible. The attic has rough hewn rafters.