Pear Tree Cottage

Pear Tree Cottage

A timber-framed house or cottage, thought to date from the 16th century, with subsequent alterations made between the 17th and 20th centuries.

The building is constructed with a timber frame, now rendered in roughcast, and has a steeply-pitched thatched roof with an axial brick stack. The windows to the western elevation are replacements with leaded lights dating from the mid-20th century or later; other windows are more recent.

The original building is set on a north-south axis, with Maypole Road running alongside to the west. There are 20th-century extensions on three sides: to the north is a porch, to the south a bay window, and along the eastern side of the building. The southern section of the eastern extension was built at some time between about 1907 and about 1938; the northern section, which projects a little further to the east, is later. These extensions do not contribute to the special interest of the building.

The west elevation fronting Maypole Road has two windows, one very small, towards the north end of the building. In the roof above are three 20th-century dormer windows, with tiling instead of thatch beneath. The main entrance is now at the north end of the building, set to the eastern edge, protected by a 20th-century porch formed of two side walls over which the roof eaves descend. The northern elevation is otherwise blind. The east elevation of the original building is obscured by the 20th-century extensions. The southern, single-storey section has a door and large windows; the northern section has French doors, with a box dormer above. At the south end of the building is a large square bay window, over which the roof eaves descend.

The southern room of the house displays significant evidence of the original timber frame and appears to represent an original floored hall, rebuilt first at the northern and then at the southern end, with much subsequent alteration. A single bay within this room is defined by two cross beams, both chamfered on their inner edges, with a linking spine beam chamfered on both sides with step stops, and a series of transverse chamfered joists running out of a substantial girding beam to the east. The framed northern wall of the room has a sill wall and a diagonal brace to the east; the framing of this wall continues to first-floor level, with joweled heads to the posts. This wall is a short distance north of the northern cross beam, and it is thought that this may be evidence of rebuilding at this end, with the hall being slightly enlarged. A partial truss survives above the beam, with a second truss in line with the wall, supporting this theory. At the southern end of the room, originally the high end, the transverse beam has mortices indicating the former presence of a partition beneath, with doorways at either end presumably leading to a parlour to the south, or a parlour and stair. The lack of a chamfer to the southern side of the beam is unusual. With the introduction of the chimney into the parlour area, the hall was slightly enlarged. The brickwork of the fireplace was rebuilt in the 20th century. The steep stair curves around the west of the stack and may have 17th-century origins with some reconfiguration; the stair projects beyond the face of the chimney rather than being in-line, and the door to the stair appears to be of early date, probably re-used and set in a 20th-century frame. The eastern wall of this room has posts and studs with a framed window opening to the north. Immediately to the south of the southern cross beam is what appears to be a blocked door opening, probably the result of later alteration. The sill beam runs the length of the eastern wall and may have been inserted later. No historic features are visible in the western wall, or in the northern or southern rooms.

At first-floor level, the roof structure has seen very extensive alteration, especially to the eastern side where the insertion of dormers has necessitated complete rebuilding. Evidence of the original southern hip is seen in the truss immediately to the north of the inserted stack, which has a redundant high collar for supporting the hip. The southern end of the roof may largely retain its 17th-century form.