Lilac Cottage

Lilac Cottage is an ornée cottage built in 1825 by William Wells, who owned the Red Leaf Estate, as the home for his Head Gardener, Joseph Wells. The cottage is constructed from sandstone random rubble and features a tiled roof with some pointed tiles. It has a central panelled stone chimneystack and an unpanelled stone chimneystack at the rear. The building is roughly L-shaped, with gable ends that have distinctive half hips adorned with five elaborate pendants and fretted bargeboards. Beneath each gable, there is a ground floor four-light bay with wooden casements and a fishscale tiled roof, complemented by fretwork on the sides and pendants. The doorcase located in the angle of the L has an original porch supported by four channelled wooden piers, which display unusual fretted decoration. The entrance features a plank door. An extension of the cottage has some exposed timber framing and a plain casement window. All materials used in the construction came from the estate.