Northend Cottage

Northend Cottage is an early 19th-century cottage located in Kenton, constructed from grey limestone rubble with a slate roof. The roof is gabled at both ends, featuring coped gables and kneelers. There is a stone lateral stack with a yellow brick shaft on the left wall of the main block. Although its size and Gothic style suggest it might have been a lodge, there is no evidence to support this claim. In 1871, it was occupied by a policeman, indicating it may have been built as a police cottage.

The cottage has a Tudor style and consists of one main heated room, a porch on the north side, and a single-storey service room under a lean-to roof on the south side. A staircase rises in the front right corner of the main room. There is a 20th-century addition at the rear left.

The exterior is very well-preserved. The front elevation features a Gothic gabled porch with a deeply-chamfered four-centred doorway, which has a shield carved over the arch. This doorway is now blocked, and access to the porch is from the left side. The right side has a stone-framed slit window, and the main block has a similar slit window to the left of the porch. Inside, there is an arched inner doorframe with a four-centred arched 19th-century plank door. The left side facing the road has a small canted bay window on the ground floor with glazing bars, and a two-light 19th-century casement window on the first floor. A similar window lights the lean-to. The right side also features a 19th-century canted bay window, allowing light into the principal room from both sides. The interior retains original joinery, although the fireplace is blocked. The property’s deeds are believed to date back to 1870 when it was purchased by the Powderham Estate. Northend Cottage is an unusual and attractive small roadside house.