1 And 4, Manor Cottages

A pair of cottages, dated 1914, designed by Ernest Gimson for May Morris in memory of her mother, Jane, wife of William Morris. The cottages are constructed of roughly coursed limestone rubble with alternating angle quoins and have a stone slate roof. They are arranged in an L-plan, with a projecting gabled range to the right, and are built in a Vernacular Revival style.

The cottages are one storey and attic height. They feature flat-faced, leaded mullioned windows throughout, with the exception of a single-light rectangular window to the left return of the projecting range on the ground floor and a smaller window directly below the eaves to the left of the main range. The main range has one or three-light windows to the left, and a one- or two-light window to the right. A centrally positioned gabled dormer has a two-light mullion with a narrow rectangular slit to the apex. The projecting gable has a four-light mullion window to the ground floor, with a three-light mullion window above, also with a narrow rectangular slit to the apex. A slate-hung gabled dormer is situated in the bottom of the roof slope to the left return. An entrance is positioned below the main dormer on the main range, with a plank door, strap hinges, and a low-pedimented stone hood. A similar entrance is located on the right return of the projecting range, incorporating an angled flat stone hood between the wall and an extruded external stack. This stack has a dripstone, moulded capping, and a datestone inscribed "JM/BUILT BY/MM/1914". A leaded window sits under the hood, and a casement window is positioned to the right of the entrance, above which is a gabled dormer in the bottom of the roof slope. Integral end stacks are located to the left of the main range, and a ridge stack is to the right, both featuring dripstones and moulded capping. The rear elevation displays several mullioned windows and two slate-hung gabled dormers set into the bottom of the roof slope of the main range. A sloping buttress is situated between them. A low gabled outbuilding projects at right angles to the main range on the right.

The interior of No. 1 (the right cottage) has plain cross beams and square joists to the front room. It also contains a semi-winder oak staircase with a sweeping ramped dado and a plain handrail with chamfered flat balusters on the first floor. Elm floor boards are on the first floor, and there are nail-studded plank doors throughout, some featuring possibly reused pointed strap hinges. Number 4 has exposed flat joists in the right ground-floor room, along with plank doors similar to those found in No. 1, including one in the central hall, which leads to a semi-winder staircase with matching details to that in No. 1. The cottages are graded II* as a complete and largely unaltered example of farmworkers’ cottages constructed in memory of Jane, widow of William Morris, who lived at Kelmscott Manor. Included are stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops.