Florence House And Florence Cottage

Florence House and Florence Cottage are a house, formerly a house and shop, dating to the early 17th century, with possible origins in the 16th century or earlier. The front facade was remodeled in the late 18th or early 19th century. The building is timber-framed, with the main range clad in plain weatherboarding and the right wing and an addition in beaded weatherboarding. It has a plain tile roof.

The main range consists of two separately framed timber-framed bays, likely originally an open hall, and largely or wholly rebuilt in at least two phases during the 16th and 17th centuries. A cross wing is flush with the main range and extends to the rear. A short, two-storey addition to the front of the right wing dates from the late 18th or early 19th century. The building stands on a rendered plinth. The right bay of the main range was formerly jettied to the front, with the first floor flush with the entire left bay. The roof is half-hipped to the left. The right wing has a gable to the front with slightly higher eaves, and is half-hipped to the rear. The front addition has a slightly lower ridge and is half-hipped to the front. A projecting red brick stack is located at the left gable end of the main range. Buff brick ridge stacks are situated at the junction of the main range and right wing, and to the left side of the front addition, with a further brick stack to the left side of the wing.

The fenestration is irregular, with three windows. There’s a three-light casement to the left bay, a hipped three-light dormer with a moulded cornice towards the right end of the main range, and a sixteen-pane sash window to the front addition. A late 18th or early 19th century shop front is located on the ground floor of the front addition, featuring two multi-pane rectangular bay windows with rounded corners, and cills supported on raked iron struts. A flat, leaded canopy covers the windows and door. A panelled door, flanked by two top lights in a reeded architrave, is found at the left end of the right bay of the main range. A panelled door with a flat bracketed hood is on the right side of the wing. A rear lean-to is present on the left, and a short, tile-hung rear wing extends to the right of the main range.

The interior reveals exposed framing. Evidence suggests a former front door existed under the jetty, behind the present door to the main range, and of stairs in the front corner of the left bay. A moulded end-of-hall beam, possibly re-used, is located at the right end of the right bay. A fireplace is situated at the right end of the right bay, featuring chamfered stone jambs and a low cambered bressumer, alongside an arch-braced tie-beam. The roof comprises largely re-used rafters trenched for collars. The right wing and addition remain uninspected.