1-8, Tinmans Row

A row of eight ironworkers' cottages was built around 1803 for Alexander Raby of Cobham Park, who owned Downside Mill. The cottages have been altered and extended since their original construction. They are constructed of brick in an irregular bond, with Nos 5 and 7 having a rough-cast finish and No 2 and 3 painted white. The roofs are covered in Welsh slate. The cottages are arranged in handed pairs, each originally two storeys high with two bays, except for No 8, which has an additional bay on the right-hand side. Rear outshuts and a side outshut have been added to No 1. Nos 1 to 4 are canted around the corner, and Nos 4 to 8 are set on a higher level due to the sloping ground. Each cottage originally had a central wooden door set within a wood frame; No 3 has a later 20th-century six-panel door. Each door is accompanied by a small four-pane window and a larger two-light, 16-pane window on the other side. The upper windows are two-light, eight-pane, and some have been replaced with later 20th-century casements. Original side-sliding sashes remain in the following locations: No 1, first floor; No 2, first floor; No 4, first floor; No 6, first floor left; and No 8, both floors of the left bay and the first floor of the right bay within the original window, which is a three-light window below. All windows have wood frames, projecting sills, and flat brick arches. The roof is hipped at the ends of the row, and shared ridge stacks are located at the centre of each pair. At the rear, there are pent-roofed outshuts, with a weather-boarded addition to No 1 and a raised section to No 2, completed in 1985. No 7 features a flat-roofed dormer and skylight. The original plan for Nos 1 to 7 included a living room and scullery on the ground floor, and a bedroom and landing above. Alexander Raby, who occupied Cobham Park in the later 18th century, operated Downside Mill until 1809 and Ember Mill, East Molesey, until 1802. He invested in iron production and coal mining in Llanelli, Dyfed, from about 1795, using the proceeds from the sale of Cobham Park. Downside Mill may have produced tin plate, which is believed to be the origin of the original name 'Tin Row' for the row of cottages.