Old Brewery Cottage

Old Brewery Cottage

This house dates from the late 18th century. It was extended and altered into two cottages during the mid to late 19th century, then reverted to a single dwelling in 1963. Minor alterations and rear additions were made in the mid and late 20th century.

The building is constructed of red brick and stone rubble, mostly rendered since the mid-20th century, with a combed reed thatched roof. There are brick stacks at the south gable end and to the rear below the ridge.

The original three-bay cottage is rectangular on plan with an integral outshut to the rear, of which only the south third survives. Twentieth-century extensions to the rear have created an L-shaped footprint.

The main west elevation comprises a four-window range showing two phases of construction: the original three-bay house and a 19th-century addition of one bay at its north end. There is a plinth of painted dressed stone rubble or flint, with brick to the northernmost bay showing evidence of possible former openings. A plat band runs across the original house. Metal wall ties or anchors are present, and the roof is half-hipped at its north end. The windows are late-20th-century timber casements of three lights. The segmental-headed main entrance has a six-panel door glazed in the top panels, with casement windows on either side. The 19th-century bay to the north has a matching casement and a timber plank door under a flat arch. Four first-floor windows are set beneath eyebrow dormers.

The south gable wall has a rendered raking buttress to its lower half and a modern two-light casement at ground-floor level to the far right. The north gable wall is rendered with no openings. The rear elevation is largely obscured by later single-storey extensions, though the outshut with a deep catslide roof is visible at the left-hand end. This outshut contains a modern timber stable door, a single glazed window, and a buttress. To its right is a mid-20th-century flat-roofed store, a late-20th-century conservatory, and a further flat-roofed extension. At first-floor level within the thatch is a two-light casement.

The interior reveals the building's complex history. The main entrance opens onto a stair hall or central room that was historically reduced in size. The under-stair cupboard door retains reused 18th-century strap hinges and a rough ventilation hole. The room to the right of the hall has been enlarged, as shown by a scarf joint in two lengths of ceiling beam; the original beam terminates short of the partition wall, and the exposed joists here are sawn and straighter than elsewhere. The left-hand principal room features a fireplace with a modern inserted chimneypiece and an axial chamfered ceiling beam with stepped stops. A recess to the left of the chimney breast contains a reused timber lintel. The ground-floor room at the north end has an axial ceiling beam but no fireplace. A later inserted doorway in the rear wall leads to the rear extension.

The outshut has been remodelled, but a length of 18th-century stud wall with lath infill panels is visible in the attic space. A straight flight of stairs ascends to the first-floor rooms. Much of the joinery dates from the 19th century, including four-panel doors and architrave.

The 18th-century roof timbers remain, comprising a truss with a side-lapped collar and clasped purlins with pole rafters. Modern sawn rafters and purlins braced with raking struts have been added to reinforce the roof structure.

The late-20th-century single-storey rear extensions are excluded from the listing as they are not of special architectural or historic interest.