Elborough Cottage

Elborough Cottage is a house with a complex history, originating in the 15th century as a cruck-framed building. It was significantly altered in the 16th and 17th centuries, and again in the early 19th century. The house is situated in Charlton Kings.

The building is timber-framed with a roughcast facade and a stone-tile roof. It features three chimneys, two constructed of ashlar with moulded capping, the central one likely dating to around 1700 or earlier. The exterior presents two bays of windows on the left of the front door, followed by a projecting gabled bay, and a further range of windows to the right. Windows are primarily early 19th-century style, with patterned lead and timber casements of three Tudor-Gothic lights. Dormer windows on the first floor are treated as five-light oriels within the gables. Ground-floor windows to the left of the door have shutters. The front door is set within a hipped, hooded porch and features a 20th-century door with decorative studs, strip hinges, and an ovolo surround. A low, heavy buttress on the left wing may indicate the presence of a former bread oven. A carved plaster tablet is located in the gable. A long, single-storey extension to the rear, the western wing, is constructed with exposed small square panels of timber-framing and large, lead-paned casements, continuing to the south in brick. The rear layout forms an L-shape, with a narrow 20th-century projection matching the style, providing space for a bathroom and other utility areas.

The ground-floor hall (south room) contains a large, 16th-century fireplace with a roll-moulding and a depressed four-centred arch. The southern jamb of the chimney stack is chamfered at the south corner, featuring a lozenge stop at the base and a run-out stop. A hollow-chamfered beam is also present. The front wall of the parlour and the west wall of the rear wing (originally a malthouse/kitchen) showcase exposed timber-framing with arch braces. A post in the entrance hall may be the foot of a cruck. A cellar includes shelves for barrels and a trough. A Regency-style staircase with stick balusters and a wreathed mahogany handrail ascends within the house. On the first floor, an exposed, smoke-blackened cruck truss with a cambered collar, central post, and horizontal rail is visible. Several cruck trusses are present, visible at first-floor level and in the attic.

Historically, the original house was a hall house open to the roof with an open hearth. The 16th-century fireplace and upper floor were added when the hall was enclosed. The projecting gabled bay, containing large oriel windows, was added in the late 16th century to create a parlour. The rear wing was originally a malthouse. The house underwent further alterations in the Regency period, including the addition of the new staircase, rear extensions, and the installation of windows with Gothic-style leaded lights. Two inventories of the property survive from 1684 and 1712.