Vale Cottage

Vale Cottage is a cottage dating from the 16th to early 17th century, possibly incorporating earlier work. It features a timber frame with wattle and daub and colourwashed brick noggings, topped with a thatched roof. The building is single storey with an attic and originally had 2½ bays, later extended to 3 bays in the 20th century. The framing consists of three panels high with ogee corner braces, and the centre bay on the north side is raised with an additional panel and gabled. The wall plate is oversailing and chamfered. The entrance is located within the centre bay and is recessed, featuring 19th-century timber casement windows. The south front is made of brick with paned windows set in segmental headed openings, and there are three raised dormers. The east gable is believed to contain a cruck, although this is not currently visible. The extension is made of Tyrolean rendered blockwork with a whitewashed gable. Vale Cottage, along with Orchard Cottage, Vine Cottage, and Old Mill Cottage, forms a widely spaced group of interest, constructed or reconstructed around 1640-1660 by New College, Oxford, and shares similarities in construction, having been remodelled again in the mid-19th century.