The Cottage

The Cottage is a cottage, likely dating to the 18th century, with a possible extension in the early 19th century and 20th-century alterations. It is constructed of rendered stone rubble and cob, with a thatched roof that is half-hipped at the front. There is an axial brick stack and a brick stack at the rear gable end. The house is set at right angles to the street and originally had a two-room plan, with a large room to the rear heated by a gable end stack incorporating a winder staircase (replaced in the 20th century) and opposing entrance doorways on either side. The front room has a separate front entry and has been slightly extended to the right of the rear room with a shallow wing, creating an overall L-shaped plan. Cob walls between the front and rear rooms, and formerly between the front room and the shallow projecting right-hand wing, suggest the building developed in three phases: the rear room with the earliest fabric, the front room belonging to the second phase, and the addition of the right-hand wing representing the final phase. 20th-century internal alterations have made precise dating features less clear, but the building appears to date between the early 18th and mid-19th centuries. On the exterior, the windows are 20th-century with diamond-leaded lights. There is a single window at the front above windows on either side of a reused late 19th-century plank door. Inside the rear room is a single chamfered cross ceiling beam with run-out stops and late 18th or early 19th century handmade brick jambs to the fireplace. The front room has a large blocked window opening on the left side. The roof structure is 19th century, with pegged trusses, straight principals, and waney rafters.