The Cottage

The Cottage is a small, detached house, likely dating to the late 17th century, with a 20th-century extension. It is constructed of stone rubble with large quoins. The roof is thatched, half-hipped to the right (east) side and gabled at the left end, with an internal brick chimney stack. The original plan comprised two rooms facing south, with a small, unheated room to the right (east) and a larger room to the left, featuring a gable-end fireplace, a winder staircase beside the stack, and a direct entry from the front doorway. A large extension was added to the right (east) end in the late 20th century.

The south front is symmetrical and has two windows on the ground floor, with first-floor windows set under eyebrow eaves. It features 20th-century 2-light casement windows with leaded panes, and a central doorway with a late 20th-century plank door and a gabled, thatched porch. At the rear (north), there is a small ground-floor window on the left, and further windows on each floor to the right, the first-floor window also set under eyebrow eaves, all with 20th-century metal frame casement windows and leaded panes. A large two-storey wing is attached to the east end, connected by a single-storey link. A small, circa-late 19th-century brick outshut is located at the west end.

Inside, the larger left-hand room has chamfered cross-beams with hollow step stops. Above the partition separating the two rooms is a chamfered cross-beam with run-out stops. There are 19th-century plank doors, a large fireplace in the left end room that has been blocked and replaced with a smaller 20th-century fireplace, and a winder staircase to the left of the stack. The roof timbers are unusually heavy, with a central truss featuring large principals and collar timbers that may be reused, exhibiting redundant half-lap joints. The large purlins are exposed, but the apex of the roof is sealed and inaccessible.

Alternatively, the cottage is an 18th-century building of ribbon-pointed rubble with a thatched roof. The symmetrical front, facing away from the road, has one-and-a-half storeys and two windows, with 2-light, leaded casement windows set into eyebrow dormers at the upper level. A central, thatched 20th-century porch with glazed doors covers a plank door. The right gable has a single light on the first floor. The front facing the road has a single light and a two-light window on the ground floor, and a two-light window in the eyebrow above. A brick stack is located at the west end, and a small one-storey brick extension is attached. The interior was not inspected. The cottage lies approximately 10 metres southeast of St Matthew’s Church. A wing with a garage attached to the east side (built in 1987) is not of special interest.