Brookside

Brookside is a house originally built in the late 17th century, with a number of later alterations including an early 19th-century extension.

The building is constructed largely of brick with stone quoins and a stone gable at the west end. The roof is modern concrete tile. The two-storey house has its principal elevation to the north, comprising three sections, each with a separate roof structure: to the west, a single bay with a brick front, which may have originated as a timber-framed building; a two-cell central section of the late 17th century; and a single bay to the east of the early 19th century, which is of lesser interest.

The fenestration across the western and central sections is consistent, possibly reflecting a late 17th-century re-fronting. The regularly-spaced window openings have flat gauged brick arches and projecting stone keystones dating from a mid-late 18th-century remodelling. Alterations include 20th-century window replacements, additional windows inserted to the ground floor, a modern porch, and one of the original openings (which appears to have been a door) bricked-in. Stone quoins mark the division between the central section and the 19th-century extension and also terminate the elevation at the western end.

To the rear elevation, the western bay projects slightly, reflecting the wider truss of its roof which was retained when the house was refaced and extended; this bay is framed by stone quoins, which also mark the eastern end of the central section. The fenestration across the western and central sections is similar to the northern elevation but has simple header brick lintels. A modern doorway has been inserted in one of the window openings, although the off-centre filled-in original doorway is visible. A low lean-to extension of the 18th or early 19th century wraps around the south-western corner of the building.

The stone west gable, which dates from the 17th or 18th century, has a blocked single light window of the first floor with a timber lintel and a brick chimney stack, inserted in the late 18th century or later. It rests on a stone plinth, which may have been the foundation of a timber-framed building. The brick east gable, dating from the 19th century, has a brick chimney breast.

Interior

The western bay, which was originally a single room on each storey, has a flagstone floor, a cased beam of uncertain date supporting each ceiling and mid-20th-century partitions on the ground floor. The roof retains its original A-frame truss, though the majority of the purlins are replacements. A brick gable wall separates this bay from the central part of the house, although there are openings on each floor at the southern end of the gable.

The central section largely retains its original plan which comprises a cross passage running between a hall and a parlour. A passage giving access to the eastern extension was created in the early 19th century when the doorway to the parlour was moved. The original roof survives, as do several beams which have narrow chamfers and scroll stops, although the attic has been damaged by fire. There are three fireplace openings, although the grates have been removed; the large kitchen hearth has stone jambs and a chamfered timber beam with scrolled stops. The only stair, located between the kitchen hearth and the northern wall, is a winder staircase which is thought to date to the 17th century, although its upper flight has been damaged in a recent fire. The parlour contains in-built cupboards and a window seat. There is also a cross-type window in the hall which may date from the late 17th or early 18th century.

History

The precise origins of Brookside are uncertain, but it appears to have been a small 17th-century house, possibly timber-framed, which was extended and re-fronted in brick in the late 17th century when it became a three-bay house with a cross passage between the eastern and central rooms. In the mid-late 18th century the windows were remodelled and flat gauged brick arches added; sash windows may also have been inserted at this time. In the early 19th century a further bay was added to the eastern end and the internal plan altered accordingly. The footprint has not changed since this date, although there have been a number of 20th-century alterations.

It is not clear whether Brookside has always been a single dwelling. While it is likely to have been built as such, a report in the Journal of the Gloucestershire Society for Industrial Archaeology illustrates an 1830 Enclosure map which labels the building "Tannery Cottages (The Bird's Nest, Brookside)" and the Ordnance Survey map of 1883 shows it as having four parts. The evidence of two doors to the north elevation suggests that there may once have been at least two dwellings.