Feoffee Cottage

Feoffee Cottage is a house with origins dating back to the early 16th century, extensively remodelled in the early to mid 17th century, and with some 19th-century alterations. The construction is of colourwashed rendered cob and stone, with an asbestos slate roof gabled at the ends. A prominent axial stack of local red sandstone is also present. Originally, the house was a five-bay open hall house built using jointed cruck construction. During the 17th century, the hall was floored over. While understanding the 17th-century layout is complicated by later internal partition changes, evidence suggests it originally included a cross passage to the right of the hall's centre. This passage no longer exists, but surviving joists indicate its former location, suggesting a narrow, unheated service room at the lower end of the house. A putative inner room is located to the left of the hall. A staircase was added against the rear wall of the hall during the 19th century, and the lower end partition of the passage likely disappeared around the same time. The axial stack now serves fireplaces back to back, with a later fireplace inserted into the original stack to heat the right-hand room. The two-storey facade presents an asymmetrical four-window arrangement, featuring two plank and cover strip front doors with strap hinges, sharing a common tiled pent roof. These doorways date from the period when the building was subdivided into three cottages, with one door providing direct access to the 17th-century hall. The original 17th-century doorway was likely positioned to the right of the current entrances. Modern 2 and 3-light casements are visible, with the first floor window on the right being a 2-light casement with three panes per light, and the ground floor window on the right a single-light fixed window. A 17th-century 3-light timber mullioned window with chamfered mullions (one replaced) is found on the left return. Internally, the house retains four smoke-blackened, side-pegged jointed cruck trusses, with collars mortised into the principals, which are also mortised at the apex and support two tiers of threaded purlins. A modern roof has been added over the medieval roof, and some smoke-blackened rafters have been cut back. The quality of the 17th-century flooring is evident on the ground floor, with chamfered cross beams featuring step stops, and chamfered and stopped joists. The hall fireplace has a low cambered timber lintel. In the inner room, the exposed joists are plainer, and the rebuilt fireplace has a chamfered stopped lintel. The first-floor rooms contain good 3 plank doors with strap hinges, believed to be either 17th century or good 19th-century antiquarian replacements. The house represents an evolved example of vernacular architecture with a late medieval roof and high-quality interior detail.