Bridge Cottages

Bridge Cottages comprise three cottages, originally two houses, dating to the mid 17th century and altered in the 19th century when converted into cottages. They are constructed of plastered cob on stone rubble footings, with stone rubble or brick stacks topped with 20th-century brick, and a thatched roof. The cottages form an L-shaped building situated on the corner of Exmouth Road and Dalditch Lane; the front block is set back from Exmouth Road, and a rear block projects at right angles and slightly forward onto Dalditch Lane.

The front block’s plan is of three rooms, with No.1 having a two-room plan at the right end and a rear lateral stack. No.2 occupies the left room of the main block, with a projecting end stack and the adjoining room of the rear block. No.3 is a two-room plan cottage with a central staircase and a rear lateral stack in the rear section of the rear block. The cottages are two storeys high. The front block has an irregular three-window front; No.2 has 19th-century casements with glazing bars, and No.1 has 1986 casements containing rectangular panes of leaded glass. Between the windows of each cottage are paired doorways: No.2 has a 19th-century plank door, and No.1 has a 19th-century four-panel door. The roof is gable-ended to the left and has a steep half-hip at the right end. A 20th-century steel-framed casement without glazing bars has been inserted on each floor behind the stack. The rear block has a four-window front of 19th-century casements, and No.3 has a symmetrical three-window arrangement around a central 19th-century six-panel door.

The interior is largely the result of 19th-century refurbishment, although occasional 17th-century features remain. The right room of the front block (No.1) has a mid-17th-century crossbeam with stop-chamfered soffits and double bar-scroll stops. A section of the party wall between Nos. 1 and 2 is exposed, revealing a 17th-century oak frame with lathes slotted into individual holes, creating a ladder backing for the cob infill. The roof is inaccessible, but exposed truss feet suggest surviving 17th-century A-frame trusses. In the rear block, only the roof retains its 17th-century origins, consisting of A-frame trusses with pegged lap-jointed collars.