Pond Cottage Including Pond Walls Adjoining To South-East

SX 68 NE CHAGFORD

3/64 Pond Cottage including pond walls 28.4.87 adjoining to south-east

• II

House, former fulling mill and pond. Mid C19, rearranged somewhat when converted to cottages circa 1900. Plastered granite with timber-framed upper floor; granite stacks with brick chimney shafts; thatch roof (maybe slate originally). Plan: the building faces north-west backing onto the pond and its associated workings. It has a 2-room plan. Each room was heated by a front lateral stack. These stacks may be secondary but the evidence is unclear. Indeed the internal crosswall may also be secondary. The upper floor was converted to domestic use circa 1900 and at this time the attic floor was probably inserted. A central axial stack serves the attic rooms. Originally the ground floor was used as a fulling mill. There is evidence for underfloor channels, one through each room and maybe an undershot water wheel against the right end wall powered the machinery. The upper floor was then a cloth drying loft. Behind the house is a narrow reservoir separated from the pond by a dam. This provided water for the underfloor channels through the mill and was fed from the pond by a sluice. Another sluice from the pond fed the putative wheel at the right end of the building. Exterior: most of the windows are on the back. The front has 3 doorways. The right one was inserted circa 1900 through the fireplace of that room. The other 2 are probably original. External stone stairs rise to the circa 1900 cottages and these may be secondary. The ground floor is built of rubble, the upper floor is timber framed and clad with original louvre boards. These were retained as a kind of weatherboarding when the building was converted to cottages. Roof is gable-ended and the louvre boards extend right up to the apex. The rear or pond side has a regular 4-window front of C19 and C20 casements, the oldest containing rectangular panes of leaded glass. Interior contains plain but sturdy carpentry detail. The first floor structure contains evidence of hatches from the ground to the first floor. The roof structure is not accessible although it can be seen to be made of deal trusses. The pond and dam are built mostly of large blocks of granite ashlar although the south-east side is built of stone rubble. The pond is approximately 75 metres long and its original depth is nearly 2 metres. It is fed by a natural stream and has an overflow channel in the northern corner. Pond Cottage, formerly known as Eaglehurst Mill, is an interesting relic of the cloth-making industry.

Listing NGR: SX6952087725