3 And 4 Beaumont Cottages

GITTISHAM GITTISHAM (north side) SY 19 NV

7/155 Nos 3 and 4 Beaumont Cottages 22.2.55

GV II

2 adjoining estate cottages. Late C16 origins, originally part of the Beaumont charity, derived from a legacy of £800 left by Henry Beaumont of Combe House, who died in 1590. The cottages were sold later and land was purchased from which pensions are still paid. Stone rubble, rendered below the eaves; thatched roof with plain ridge, gabled at the right end; right end stack and axial stack. Plan: Sited to the rear of and parallel to Nos 1 and 2 Beaumont Cottages with a small courtyard between. A single depth range, at one time 3 cottages, 2 cottages at time of survey (1988). No 4 is a single cell plan with one heated room with a winder stair adjacent to the stack, a small service room has been created at the rear by an inserted partition. No 3 is presumably 2 rooms on plan and retains 2 front doors. Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 6 window front the eaves thatch eyebrowed over the 2 right hand first floor windows. 3 doors, to the left, right and centre, all late C19/C20; 2- and 3-light C19 or early C20 casements with glazing bars. Interior: No 4 inspected. Interior retains a deeply-chamfered step-stopped crossbeam, a partly blocked fireplace retaining an early timber lintel and a winder stair adjacent to the stack. Roof: The right hand truss is an 'A' frame, presumably a replacement as the left hand truss is a side-pegged jointed cruck truss. No access to the apex of the roof. No 3 is likely to retain good carpentry details and an early roof. These cottages form a very good group round a courtyard with Nos 1 and 2 (q.v.), and make an important contribution to a outstanding estate village which was described by Polwhele in 1790 as "esteemed the cleanliest in the country. It is not large but consists of many trim cottages; and the people are remarkably neat in their houses and in themselves". Polwhele, R. History of Devonshire, f.p. 1793, vol. II, p. 322.

Listing NGR: SY1340898446