Pierrepont Reeds Cottage

Pierrepont Reeds Cottage, Tilford

This is a house, later subdivided into two cottages and now in single ownership. The building began as an early 17th-century timber-framed house with a three-bay lobby entrance plan. It was substantially refronted and extended at both ends during the later 19th century in Gothic style. Early 20th-century refurbishment and a small late 20th-century northern outshot were added subsequently.

The structure is timber-framed with a roughcast refronting, except for the tile-hung upper floor of the rear gable. The roof is tiled, with an original off-centre brick chimneystack carrying three ceramic chimneypots, plus two 19th-century brick chimneystacks.

The building comprises three bays extended by one bay at each end and rear outshots, with two storeys. Windows are irregularly spaced, mostly casements with leaded lights.

The south-east or front elevation features a large projecting off-centre gable with scalloped bargeboards containing a two-light and three-light window. The other two first-floor windows are paired Gothic arched casements. The ground floor has a small pointed arched window, a two-light and three-light casement, a left-side penticed tiled porch supported on wooden piers, and a wide doorcase with plank door. Right-side French windows occupy the position of the second cottage's original door when the property was subdivided. The north-west side has a projecting end gable with scalloped wooden bargeboards on wooden brackets, with the end bay comprising an upper floor only, supported on five brick piers, and a ground-floor casement window behind. The south-west end has similar scalloped bargeboards and a single casement. The north-east or rear elevation features a catslide roof over outshots at either end, a large southern tile-hung gable with casement window and plank-door doorcase, and an adjoining small gable over a further doorcase.

Interior features are substantial. The northern bay ground floor contains exposed ceiling beams, the cellar entrance with an original fixed wooden step ladder, and a 19th-century wooden winder staircase. A framed partition between the end and central bays partially survives. The central bay displays a chamfered spine beam with floor joists at right angles to the end bay, and an open fireplace with wooden bressumer and brick piers replaced in the early 20th century. The southern timber-framed bay has a spine beam with wide chamfer, exposed floor joists, and an open fireplace with wooden bressumer and brick piers replaced in the early 20th century, topped with a copper hood. A 17th-century three-plank door with pintle hinges is preserved. The original timber-framed rear wall is visible throughout, weathered on the reverse, demonstrating that outshots were added later. The upper floor retains substantial visible framing in the rear wall, north side wall, and two internal partitions featuring box framing, jowled posts, and curved braces. The original south wall shows less internal framing, but its thickness confirms it was originally external. The central bay retains a cupboard beside the chimneystack with a plank door bearing pintle hinges and a rushlight mark. A further ledged plank door survives. First-floor timbers suggest a queenpost roof with purlins, with recent photographs indicating substantial survival of old rafters.

The building appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1876 as two cottages in an area called The Reeds. The 1916 Ordnance Survey map also shows two cottages with a further partial extension along the south-east side, later extended to form an outshot in the late 20th century. The property was formerly part of the Pierrepont estate. From the late 1940s, the building was occupied by a single tenant.

This building is significant as an early 17th-century timber-framed three-bay lobby entrance house with readable plan form, substantially intact timber frame, and original joinery features, enhanced by later 19th-century Gothic-style refronting and extensions.