Widden Cottage

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 25 May 2021 to correct the address and to reformat the text to current standards

SX 89 NE 5/23

NEWTON ST CYRES SAND DOWN LANE Widden Cottage

(formerly listed as Widden Cottage, SAND DOWN LAND)

II Cottage, formerly two cottages. Mid-late C17 with C20 modernisations. Plastered cob with inserted C20 brick footings, cob stacks with C20 brick tops. Corrugated asbestos roof. Cottage made from two identical contemporary, attached cottages. Each two storeys with one-room plan. Both face south-east away from the road with front doors to left. Stacks in right-hand gables with (now disused) stairwells alongside the rear. Single front windows to each room and right cottage door now replaced by window. All casements replaced 1984. C19 'West of England' insurance plaque rear centre under the eaves.

Interior has chamfered beams with scroll stops and original roof purlins between cob gable walls. Fireplaces now blocked.

A third cottage to the left was demolished in early C20 and party wall partly rebuilt. They are said to have been miners' cottages but pre-date nearby lead and manganese works. Nevertheless Widden Cottage is rare survival of C17 single-room cottages. Incorrectly spelt 'Whidden' on map.

Listing NGR: SX8792997088