Newcomen Cottage

Newcomen Cottage is a house built in 1866 by Thomas Lidstone, who designed and constructed it for his own use. It is a mixed construction of stone rubble with dressings of red sandstone and Salcombe sandstone, featuring ornamental timber framing and slate-hanging. The roof is slate, and the chimney stacks are of stone rubble with brick chimneyshafts.

The house’s design draws inspiration from 17th-century merchants’ houses, incorporating slate-hung gables and reused oriel windows. The main facades, along with portions of the parlour and dining-room wings, have stone rubble walls with sandstone ashlar at ground floor level, housing sash windows with varying glazing bar patterns—the dining room windows exhibit wider glazing bars, possibly dating to the 18th century. First-floor areas feature small-panel timber framing and 17th-century style oriel windows. While the framing and oriels have been repaired and adapted, they contain significant original 17th-century architectural elements. The front doorway, located to the right of the front wing, is distinguished by a 19th-century studded door with Jacobean styling, sheltered by late 17th-century carved scroll brackets. Above the door is a 16th-century single-light window illuminating the stair landing, and a larger three-light window on the north side. Other sides of the house maintain a similar style but with less salvaged material. The east end is slate-hung. Ornamental shaped bargeboards adorn the main gables, with a plain replacement at the east end.

The interior contains architectural fragments salvaged from demolished merchants’ houses on Lower Street, a consequence of the 1864 demolition undertaken to build the Newcomen Road ramp. Notably, these fragments originated from the house of Thomas Newcomen (1663-1729), an inventor known for his work with Thomas Savery on the atmospheric steam engine. The open-well staircase incorporates early 18th-century twisted balusters and a carved 17th-century panel; a later 18th-century balustrade leads to the attic. The oak-panelled dining room features a high-quality moulded plaster overmantel dating to around 1640, depicting the Pentecost scene. Further 17th-century plasterwork can be found, including a single rib ceiling with fleur-de-lys motifs in the chamber above the parlour, and fragments on the first-floor landing—including a plaque dated 1636. Additional reused elements include an oak-panelled overmantel in the chamber above the dining room. A Tudor-style chimneypiece in the parlour is likely from the 19th century.