Rock Cottage

SS 72 SE BISHOP'S NYMPTON ASH MILL

6/137 Rock Cottage

GV II

House. Circa mid C17, C20 renovations. Whitewashed rendered cob on stone footings; asbestos slate roof (thatched until at least 1960, old list description), gabled at ends; back to back fireplaces in an axial stack; left end stack (shaft truncated). Plan: Single depth plan, 3 rooms wide, with a projecting porch and lobby entrance facing the axial stack between the two right hand rooms, rear outshut. Both fireplaces in the axial stack have bread ovens; it is not clear which one served as the C17 kitchen fireplace. The left hand room has a smaller, probably C18 fireplace and was probably unheated originally. The house has been divided into cottages in the past: it was 2 dwellings in 1960 and is reputed to have been 3 dwellings previously (information from owner). Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 3:l window front with a gabled 2-storey porch to right of centre with a C20 front door on the left return, second C20 door at the extreme left. Fenestration of C20 timber casements except for first floor right which is probably C19: a small 2-light small pane casement. The right return of the porch has 2 small probably C19 casements. The right return of the house has a C20 ground floor bow. Interior: The right hand room has a C17 chamfered step stopped axial beam and a partly-blocked fireplace retaining an original C17 chamfered lintel. The room has a C17 open fireplace with a chamfered lintel and a bread oven with an iron door. The left hand room has a smaller fireplace with a slender cambered lintel. The stair rises behind the axial stack, old oak treads are said to survive below the present treads. A C17 house on a prominent corner site in Ash Mill. Group value with the former forge (q.v.) and Ball Ham (q.v.).

Listing NGR: SS7820223450