Lydstone Lydstone Cottage

Lydstone Cottage is a house and cottage dating from the mid-to-late 17th century, significantly altered in the late 19th century. The building is constructed of granite rubble with granite stacks, one of ashlar with a brick top; the roof is thatched, with some slate to the rear. Originally a three-room block, the south-western room was divided in the late 19th century to create Lydstone Cottage, with an inserted passage and a second room accommodating a rear staircase. The main block’s left room has an axial stack backing onto a central entrance lobby, while the right room features a gable-end stack. A small, rear block projects at right angles to the rear of the left room of Lydstone. Both the house and cottage are two storeys high. The front has an irregular five-window facade. The ground floor windows, including a flat-roofed bay and entrance porch, are 20th-century casements with leaded panes. First-floor windows are 16-pane sashes, replacing earlier windows but set within original granite quoined embrasures, remnants of late 19th-century and 20th-century alterations. Both the house and cottage have 20th-century doors. The roof is gable-ended, as is the roof of the rear block. The interior of Lydstone Cottage, the only part inspected during the survey, reveals a basic 17th-century structure. The front room contains a stop-chamfered axial beam with run-out scroll-nick stops, while the joinery details and marble fireplaces are 19th and 20th century. The roof structure is also 17th century, with A-frame trusses using pegged lap-jointed cambered collars, extending over Lydstone and into the rear block. It is believed that Lydstone has been modernized over the original 17th-century structure. Local accounts suggest the property was formerly a coaching inn before it was divided.