Cottage At Brook Willow Farm

The cottage at Brook Willow Farm is a farmhouse, now a house, dating from the late 14th century, with alterations and enlargements in the 16th and 17th centuries, and further alterations and restoration in the 20th century. It is timber-framed on a rendered plinth, with a red tile roof. The building is arranged linearly, originally consisting of an open hall with a lofted service or parlour bay at the east end. The hall has largely been reduced to a lean-to, with a later addition built against the east end of the service bay. The timber framing is fully exposed on both sides, displaying sills, full-height wallposts, low mid-rails, wall-plates, intermediate rails, and studs, along with large braces to the rail and wall-plates, some bearing carpenter's marks in the form of large scratched Roman numerals. On the south side, the central section (the lofted eastern portion of the original building) is notable for wallposts jointed near the tops and slightly curved braces on two levels. To the right of the centre bay, the framing is narrower, and to the left, the mid-rail runs into the lean-to. Restored wooden mullion windows of 4, 1, 4, and 3 lights are at ground floor, with 1 and 3 lights above. A hipped roof of shallow pitch has a chimney rising through the slope at the west end. A modern lean-to porch, built of similar materials, is located at the east end. On the north side the framing is less regular, with a curved brace on one side of the central bay’s right-hand post and a jointed brace to a stud arising from the mid-rail on the other side. Windows of 3 and 2 lights are at ground floor, and 2, 3, and 1 lights are above. Inside, the principal features include a massive arch-braced cambered tie-beam where the centre bay meets the former hall, with a cut-away brace to create a doorway. Large curved down-braces are in the opposite wall, along with two relocated cusped lights from a wooden window, chamfered spine beams on both floors, and an inserted chimney stack with back-to-back inglenook fireplaces, featuring exposed wattle-and-daub panelling.