Firtree Cottage

Firtree Cottage is a former cottage, now serving as the office of the Institute of Cultural Affairs. It dates from the early to mid-19th century. The ground floor is constructed of red-brown Flemish bond brick, featuring a dentil cornice, while the upper part is timber-framed and covered with peg-tile. The building has a brick stack and chimney shaft with divided flues, topped by a peg-tile roof.

The cottage has an L-shaped plan, facing east-southeast onto The Green. It consists of a two-room front block, with the left (south) room being the front room of a crosswing that projects one room to the rear. An axial stack serves back-to-back fireplaces between the two blocks. The main entrance is located at the rear angle of the two wings, with a secondary entrance on the south side towards the rear.

The exterior features an irregular two-window front. The right windows are 20th-century casements with glazing bars, with the lower one set beneath a low brick segmental arch. The left windows are 19th-century 20-pane sashes, with the lower one set forward in a shallow brick bay. The roof has a gable end on the right and a gable-ended cross roof on the left. The left end also includes 20th-century casements with glazing bars. There is a single first-floor window towards the rear, topped by a small gable, and below it is a gabled porch that contains a 20th-century part-glazed door, similar to the door at the rear.

The interior does not display any exposed carpentry, and the roof has not been inspected. Firtree Cottage was likely the lodge for the nearby Langton House and is part of an attractive and varied group of listed buildings that front onto The Green.