Hop Garden Cottage

Hop Garden Cottage is a cottage dating from the early 18th century, as depicted on Rocque’s Map of 1768. It has undergone later alterations, including 20th-century windows, a porch, and rear extensions.

The cottage is constructed of red brick in a Flemish bond, with some grey brick headers. The upper floors are tile-hung. It has a tiled roof with prominent brick chimney stacks, including a large external stack on the right-hand side. The cottage is two storeys high with attics in the gable end, and originally featured three windows, though this may have evolved from a single room on each floor at the south end.

The ground floor windows are casements with rubbed brick voussoirs, set within original openings. A band runs horizontally between the two floors. A 20th-century porch constructed from brick and ragstone, featuring splat balusters and a tiled gable, sits in the centre. Behind the porch is a cambered opening, which contains a sun fire plaque numbered 1710. Rear extensions were added in 1927 and the 1980s, likely replacing an earlier outshut.

Inside, the south room on the ground floor has exposed floor joists, and what appear to be re-used medieval posts. The first-floor rooms showcase chamfered spine beams with curved step stops and lambs tongue stops. These timbers are believed to potentially originate from Leigh Place, a medieval house that was demolished and rebuilt before 1658. Hop Garden Cottage was built to provide accommodation for hop-workers.