Heath Cottage

BRIDFORD HEATH LANE SX 88 NW 2/51 Heath Cottage GV II House. Circa mid C17. Whitewashed, plastered cob and stone rubble; thatched roof, gabled at ends; end stacks. Plan: Unusual compact plan, a variant of the 2 room and through passage arrangement: large kitchen/hall at the right with a stair in a projection on the rear and a smaller, heated parlour to the left of the through passage with an outshut to the rear. Access to the outshut from the passage via a small lobby which also gives access to a very small service room adjacent to the passage and taken out of the parlour. It is not clear whether the outshut is integral with the main block. Exterior: 2 storeys. The house has been turned round and the present entrance elevation is the former rear elevation. Asymmetrical 2 window entrance elevation with the thatch carried down as a catslide to the parlour outshut at the right and swept across the door to the passage as a porch. Front door to passage with a square-headed chamfered frame tucked in between the outshut and the shallow rectangular projection of the kitchen/hall stair. Large projecting curing chamber (unusual for the region) at left with a low arched opening at the base on the left return, a blocked opening to the stack and a modern window inserted on the front. 1 ground floor 2-light C20 timber casement with glazing bars to the hall/kitchen; first floor stair window with a square chamfered frame. The left return of the block has a small chamfered mullioned 2-light window to the first floor. The rear elevation, formerly the front, has 4 windows; C20 timber casements with glazing bars; and a plank door to the passage. 2 bee holes flank ground floor window left. Interior: The passage/parlour end partition is partly made up of wide horizontal planks with C18 graffiti. The hall/kitchen has chamfered stopped crossbeams, an open fireplace with granite jambs, a roughly chamfered lintel and Cl9 brick-lined bread oven. C18 plank door to stair which has granite treads. The parlour has an open fireplace with ovolo-moulded timber lintel; 2 chamfered C17 first floor doorframes, one stopped. Roof: Apex not inspected at time of survey (1986) but principal rafters visible upstairs appear to be straight. An attractive traditional house with an unusual plan form.

Listing NGR: SX8172488190