Escot Cottages

Escot Cottages is a pair of cottages built in the mid to late 17th century, with enlargements made in the mid to late 19th century and some modernisation in the 20th century. The cottages are constructed of plastered cob on stone rubble footings, with stone rubble or cob stacks topped with 19th and 20th-century brick, and they have thatched roofs.

The cottages face southeast and are situated on a hillside. No. 1 is the right (northeastern) cottage at the downhill end and features a three-room plan. An axial stack located between the center and right rooms serves back-to-back fireplaces, while the left room is small and unheated, likely serving as a service room. No. 2, to the left, has a two-room plan with an axial stack between the rooms. It appears that these cottages were created by dividing and enlarging a former 17th-century farmhouse that originally occupied the space between the two stacks, which had a three-room plan with a central service room. The end rooms were added in the 19th century.

The cottages are two storeys high and have secondary lean-to brick outshots at the rear, along with a 20th-century extension on the left end. The exterior features an irregular five-window front with 19th and 20th-century casements that include glazing bars. Most first-floor windows have thatch eyebrows above them. Both cottages have roughly central doorways that contain part-glazed 20th-century doors with contemporary porches. The roof is half-hipped at each end.

The interiors of both cottages have largely been modernised in the 19th and 20th centuries. Most structural carpentry is covered with plaster, and all fireplaces are blocked by 20th-century grates. However, the right room of No. 2 retains a deeply chamfered crossbeam, and the roof above is supported by a side-pegged jointed cruck truss. The first floor of No. 1 was not accessible for inspection during the survey.