Ruperts Cottage And Attached Walls

Ruperts Cottage is a building that is now part of a hotel, along with its attached walls. It likely dates mostly from the 17th century but may have medieval origins and was altered in the 20th century. The structure is made of limestone rubble with wooden lintels and features a Stonesfield-slate roof with a rubble gable stack. It has a two-unit plan that has been altered and consists of one storey plus an attic.

The front of the cottage has an ancient double-leaf oak door set in a massive ovolo-moulded frame within an earlier wider opening, located to the left of centre. There is an open oak porch that may date from the 15th century, featuring a crenellated tiebeam, ogee spandrels, and undulating bargeboards, which may have been reset. The cottage has tall flanking cross windows with renewed frames and leaded glazing, along with a small two-light casement window to the extreme right. The gables and rear of the building have had 20th-century stone-mullioned windows inserted.

Inside, there is a small fireplace with a wooden bressumer. Extensions to the left and rear of the cottage are not of special architectural interest. To the north-west, there is a walled garden with walls approximately 2.5 metres high that incorporate a two-light traceried window from the 15th century and three sections of early 17th-century strapwork cresting. A wall extending northwards to the Manor forecourt includes a single-light window from the 16th century. A wall extending approximately 40 metres southwards features a gateway with square ashlar piers and early 18th-century vase finials, along with wrought-iron gates that may also date from the 18th century. The cottage was historically used as an outbuilding and is reputed to have been a hiding place for Prince Rupert.