Orchard Cottage

Orchard Cottage

House originating in the 17th century with a 19th century extension, constructed in red and buff brick and roughly coursed rubble limestone with clay-tiled roofs, brick stacks, and timber or metal-framed windows.

The building follows a linear plan of four bays arranged in two storeys, orientated east to west. The principal elevation faces south and comprises two distinct sections: the three bays of the original 17th-century building on the west, identified by its chimneystacks, and a two-storey 19th-century extension of a single bay to the east. Windows and doorways of the earlier part have red brick surrounds with segmental arched brick lintels on the ground floor meeting the eaves on the first floor. The front door is of historic ledge and plank construction with a glazed insertion, positioned beneath a timber porch with a tiled roof. Windows are irregularly sized and spaced, comprising various casements, many of which are modern replacements. A brick stack stands at the junction between the central section and the west extension, with the gable appearing to have been built out around it in stone. The 19th-century extension employs buff brick or dressed stone details rather than red brick and includes a modern stable door. A chimney emerges at the junction, external to the earlier building.

The rear north elevation is built mainly in roughly coursed rubble stone without the brick enrichments of the south side. It has four irregularly sized and spaced windows, one of which has a segmental brick arch.

Internally, the ground floor of the original building contains two rooms with a central stair between them. The front room to the west has a thick, deeply chamfered spinal beam and axial joists bearing prominent carpenter's marks. The end wall containing the fireplace is of modern brick with a historic timber element inserted partway up. A winder stair leads to the first floor. The room to the east also has a thick axial beam, chamfered with moulded stops and ceiled beneath the joists. It contains a modern stone chimneypiece lined in brick with a reused timber mantel shelf. The stair is lit by a first-floor window and has a recess to a blocked opening on the ground floor.

The roof of the earlier part of the building is supported on three queen post trusses ceiled at the collar, with the central truss infilled to create a partition between two main rooms. A modern partition has been inserted between the stair and main bathroom. The tie beam of the central truss bears the scar of an inserted doorway, with a modern doorway positioned within a wider cut. In the loft there is lath and plaster partitioning and partial covering to the rafters.

The modern sunroom attached to the east, which contains the 1689 date stone set in its plinth, and the single-storey extension on the west dating from circa 1985 are not included in the listing.