Cottons Farmhouse

A farmhouse, now a house, dating from the 15th century, with later alterations in the 16th or early 17th century. The house is timber framed with rendered infill, and has a plain tile roof. It consists of an open hall of two roughly equal-length bays, the bay to the left divided by a cross-passage. There are also storeyed end bays. The front has a rendered plinth and gable end jetties. The framing is close-studded, with a higher midrail to the right hall bay, and pegs for a broad window-cill to the same bay. The roof is hipped with gablets, and there is a multiple brick stack to the left end of the left hall bay. The fenestration is irregular, with one 3-light casement to the left end bay, one 2-light casement to each hall bay, and one 4-light diamond mullion window to the right end. There is a pegged cill for a mullioned window to the left end. A ribbed door is set within a moulded 4-centred-arched architrave to the left end of the hall, where the doorway head is higher than the midrail. A short, two-bay, timber-framed rear wing, gabled and tile-hung on the first floor, is attached to the left. The interior features exposed framing; a moulded right end-of-hall beam is morticed for a spear towards the rear end and grooved for a boarded partition. The right end room has mortices indicating a former axial subdivision. A doubly-chamfered central truss post features hollow-chamfered arch braces to the tie-beam, along with a moulded octagonal crown post and ogee braces to the left end-of-hall partition. There is a moulded 4-centred-arched stone fireplace. Group Value: The building contributes to the group value of the area.