Cottles Barton

COTTLES BARTON

House, formerly probably a small manor house. Built in 1567, extended in the late 16th and early to mid 17th centuries, and restored in 1866.

The front wall and porch are built of coursed stone ashlar in small blocks, with cob and stone rubble at the sides and rear. The roof is gable-ended and thatched. There are three stacks of small dressed stones: one at each gable end (the left-hand one probably rebuilt) and a projecting lateral stack at the front.

The building shows a complex development of plan, with phases that can only be tentatively suggested without a thorough survey. The house appears to have been newly built in 1567, with no evidence of medieval work. Its original plan consisted of three rooms with a through passage, with the lower end to the left and a storeyed porch at the front. The hall was heated by a front lateral stack, though the lower and inner rooms may have been unheated. The building was two storeys throughout, though the position of the staircase is uncertain. Above the inner room was a high-quality chamber open to the roof.

From 1599, the house began to be upgraded. The inner room was remodelled to become a good-quality parlour and a fireplace was inserted into the chamber above. A further heated parlour was added in a wing behind the higher end of the hall. In the early 17th century, another room of uncertain function was added beyond the inner room, and a large framed staircase was built in a projection at the rear of the inner room. Probably at this stage, the chamber over the inner room had a good-quality plaster ceiling inserted. A further addition, made either in the early or mid 17th century, consisted of an unheated dairy wing behind the lower room with an adjoining framed staircase in a projection next to the passage. The house was restored in 1866, when it was faced with fine ashlar and given stone mullion windows. In the 19th century, the unheated dairy wing was extended. Whatever existed beyond the inner room was demolished at an indeterminate date.

The exterior displays two storeys with an attic to the porch. The imposing six-window asymmetrical front features 2-, 3- and 4-light stone mullions dating from 1866. The two porch windows, however, have hoodmoulds with carved headstops which are probably original. The first-floor windows have small gables above. The porch has a plain segmental stone arch and crudely carved in a stone above are the words "AN DNI 1567 TC". The right-hand side of the porch has a corbelled newel stair projection rising from first-floor level.

Inside the porch, at the front of the passage, is probably the original wooden doorframe, richly moulded and with a cranked head which has carved leaf design in the spandrels. There is a contemporary oak studded plank door.

The rear elevation is equally interesting, showing the various additions. To the right is the unheated wing, which has on its first floor (inner face) two 17th-century wood mullion windows that are unusually richly moulded. In the angle of this wing is the stair projection with a small gable above. The rear passage doorway is of a similar form to the front, though much plainer, and also has a heavy studded door. The heated rear wing (with chimney now reduced) projects to the left of centre and has on its inner face a 2-light ovolo-moulded wooden mullion window on the ground floor. On the outer face of this wing at first-floor level is another early window, partly blocked by the addition of an adjoining stair turret on its left.

The interior retains considerable evidence of 19th-century restoration but preserves some very high-quality earlier features. The lower room has chamfered cross beams, which may have been renewed during the restoration. The hall has a fireplace with a chamfered wooden lintel and hollow-chamfered granite jambs, above which is a plaster plaque with the date 1567 in high relief. The wing at the rear of the hall has a three-bay moulded framed ceiling.

The rise in status of the inner room is reflected in its very high-quality features. It has a decorative plaster ceiling, probably late 16th century, of the Phase I type with single moulded ribs forming a geometric design with kite shapes and floral angle sprays. The walls are panelled, though at the rear the panelling was moved inwards, probably in the 19th century, to form a passage behind. The panelling is likely contemporary with the ceiling and is of early debased classical form. Above the fireplace is arcading with reeded pilasters and high-relief caryatids; above each pilaster is a grotesque animal head with carved frieze in between. The plaster cornice is 19th century. At the rear of this room is a circa early 17th-century framed oak staircase which divides at the first landing and has an unusual canopy arrangement above. The right-hand section of stairs leads to the chamber above the inner room; at its head is a contemporary double wooden ovolo-moulded doorframe, the left-hand part of which led to the end room (now disappeared), less than half of the frame surviving. There is a similar doorframe at the head of the stairs on the other side, with a 17th-century panelled door.

Inside the high-quality first-floor chamber is an internal porch with debased classical detail featuring reeded pilasters on high pedestals. The contemporary door is panelled in geometric square design. There is an ornate plaster overmantle with strapwork design and a central shield bearing the initials MC and the date 1599. The moulded plaster ceiling is probably early 17th century, canopied with single moulded ribs in geometric design with floral angle sprays and a central pendant. The room over the rear parlour has a plaster frieze and cornice.

Over the main range are five roof principals, probably original, with curved feet, threaded ridge and purlins. The three lower end trusses have cambered collars halved onto the principals with dovetail joints; the two over the hall have morticed collars, as do those over the rear parlour wing. There is a solid wall between the hall and inner room rising to the apex. Over the inner room is a high-quality truss with cyma moulding and similarly moulded purlins; the apex has been cut off. The entire roof is un-smoke-blackened.

This house clearly rose in status during the late 16th and early 17th centuries, as reflected in its high-quality features. It has a picturesque exterior and occupies a prominent roadside position.