Abbeygate Cottages

Abbeygate Cottages likely originated as two houses, now divided into six cottages. Construction probably occurred in the late 15th or early 16th century. The cottages are timber-framed. The ground floor is faced with chequered red and grey brick in a Flemish bond pattern, while the first floor is hung with plain tiles, all beneath a plain tile roof. The cottages stand on a plinth. Numbers 5 to 3 share a single roof, which is hipped with a gablet at the right end. A multiple stack is positioned off-centre to the left. The window openings are irregular, with a single 3-light casement towards the left end, a 2-light casement below the stack, and four evenly-spaced 3-light casements between the centre and right end. Three doors are present: the one serving No. 3 is well to the left of the stack with fielded panels and a flat, bracketed hood; the door for No. 4 is to the right of the stack and is boarded; and the door for No. 5 is at the left end and is half-glazed. No. 2 has a slightly less steeply pitched roof and a rear stack at the left end, with two 2-light first-floor casements and a 19th-century boarded door with a flat, bracketed hood. No. 1 is divided into two sections, both with gable ends facing the street, with the left section recessed. A projecting stack is on the left side elevation of the right gable. Each gable has a 3-light casement. A boarded door with a flat, bracketed hood is located to the right of the right gable. No. 6 forms a rear wing to No. 5 and is likely timber-framed, now with a brick ground floor, tile-hung first floor, and a plain tile roof. This wing is set lower than No. 5 and features a 2-story brick extension to the right and a rear lean-to.