Court Cottages

Two cottages, dating from around the late 17th century, have been converted into a single house. The property underwent 20th-century renovations. The walls are whitewashed cob on stone rubble footings, with a slate roof to the left end (gabled) and a thatched roof with gabled ends to the right. There are end stacks. Originally, the plan comprised two single-cell cottages: the left-hand cottage features a projecting front stair turret on the left, and the right-hand cottage had a newel stair at the rear. A slightly advanced single-storey block adjoins the left-hand end, and may have been an outbuilding or workshop incorporated into the house. 20th-century alterations include the removal of the original right-hand stair and the introduction of a straight stair in the right-hand room against the party wall.

The front elevation is irregular, with 1+2 windows. The right-hand end has a higher thatched roof with eaves that brow over one first-floor window. The left-hand end has a lower roofline and a slate roof carried down as a catslide over a rectangular stair turret. A half-glazed 20th-century door is located to the right of the stair turret, and a second half-glazed 20th-century door is situated to the left of the thatched end. Windows are a mix of 19th and 20th century, with 2-, 4- and 6-pane glazing, including a 1-light timber stair window in the stair turret.

On the ground floor of the left-hand side, there is a hollow-chamfered cross beam and an open fireplace with a chamfered timber lintel and brick jambs. A china cupboard is built into the right-hand wall. The timber stair has oak treads and risers, with a chamfered, pegged doorway leading into the single-storey block on the left. A rear door, leading into a rear lean-to, has a deep chamfered lintel. Two roof trusses over the right-hand end are likely to be late 17th century, with halved pegged apexes and collars pegged directly onto the principal rafters. The cottages form a group with a pair of sympathetically renovated cottages directly opposite Old Cawte Farm.