Forge Cottage

A cottage of late 17th or early 18th century date, refurbished in the 1970s. The 1970s alterations, which included re-fenestration within existing openings and the addition of a porch and rear staircase/bathroom, are not of special interest.

Construction and Materials

The ground floor is constructed of Kentish Ragstone rubble with ragstone and ironstone galleting. The first floor is timber-framed, clad in weatherboarding on the front elevation. The building has a tiled roof with a brick chimneystack projecting through the rear slope.

Plan

The cottage is a two-storey, two-bay structure, square on plan, with a catslide outshot to the rear or north-east. The ground floor consists of a large sitting room, a small kitchen to the north-east within the outshot, and a staircase positioned in the north-west corner. The upper floor contains two bedrooms that lead into each other, one of which is heated, and a bathroom adjoining the staircase to the north.

Exterior

The principal front faces south-west. The upper floor has two later 20th century leaded light casement windows. The ground floor has one similar casement and a smaller fixed leaded light window. On the right-hand side is a 20th century lean-to porch with a half-glazed door featuring a leaded light and matching side-light.

The rear or north-east elevation features a tall brick chimneystack with a base of English bond and stretcher bond above, projecting above the roof line within the slope of the outshot. To the right is a 1970s square tile-hung staircase tower with a hipped tiled roof. The windows are later 20th century casement windows and there is a half-glazed rear door.

The south-east side elevation is gable-ended with one casement window on the ground floor.

The north-west side shares a party wall with the earlier adjoining property, number 89 Station Road.

Interior

Access through the porch leads directly into the sitting room, which features a massive brick open fireplace in English bond and stretcher bond. The wooden bressumer above is reported to have been inserted in the 1970s but appears to be of 18th century date with a narrow chamfer with runout stop. A spice recess is present, along with a possible blocked opening for a bread oven. At the sides are two 20th century wooden seats of traditional type with decorative wooden hoods. The ceiling has a central spine beam with a one inch chamfer and un-chamfered floor joists, many of which are rough cut and some reused. The north-west side adjoining number 89 displays visible 17th century or earlier box-framed timber-frame to the upper part of the walls.

A plank door in the north corner provides access to a narrow kitchen in the outshot and a 1970s half-winder open-tread staircase with plank balustrades.

The western wall of the larger eastern bedroom contains some 17th century or earlier box-framing shared with number 89. The partition between the bedrooms shows a visible wallplate comprising two wide tarred horizontal wooden planks at its base, and a ledged plank door leading into the second bedroom with a cockspur hinge probably of late 17th century date. The smaller eastern bedroom has 18th century bay posts with curved jowls to the tie beam in the partition, and rough vertical studs, probably of 18th century date. The north wall is timber-framed with diagonal tension braces and has a brick fireplace, partly in English bond and partly stretcher bond with an elliptical arch.

The roof structure was not inspected in 2015 but is reported to contain exposed rafters.