Applecoate Cottage

A house, likely dating to the late 16th century or earlier, with probable extensions and remodelling in the 18th century. The walls are colourwashed rendered cob on stone rubble footings, topped with a thatched roof gabled at the left end and hipped at the right. There are two axial stacks, one at the right end. The house originally comprised a single-depth, five-room plan. The left-hand two rooms, with a lower roofline, appear to be of late 16th-century origin. The right-hand room, where a stack provided heat, was used as a kitchen. The right-hand three rooms have a higher roofline; the central room was also a kitchen and is heated by a stack. The layout indicates no central passage or opposed doorways; instead an unheated central room contains a passage parallel to the front wall and was formerly a dairy. The front has an irregular three-and-two-window arrangement. The left end has a small two-light first-floor casement with an eyebrowed thatch overhang, and a front door sheltered by a canopy. A 20th-century window is on the left, and a two-light casement with six panes per light is to the left of the front door. The right end of the house has regular fenestration, with two-light casements and two small panes at the top of each light on the first floor. Inside, the room to the left of the front door contains a deeply-chamfered cross beam with step stops, an open fireplace with stone rubble jambs and a replaced lintel. The right-hand end of the house originally had a cross beam, probably 18th century, with run-out stops, and an open fireplace with jambs made of Posbury stone and a chamfered lintel with run-out stops. At the time of a 1985 survey, access to the roofspace was not possible, but one truss might be a jointed cruck, with blackened timbers reportedly visible during renovations. The house is set back from the road but remains visible. It was named "Coate" on Ordnance Survey maps. This is an intriguing building with possible medieval roof timbers and retaining interior features from the late 16th and 18th centuries.