Old Cottage

ILSINGTON LIVERTON SX 87 NW 4/106 Nos 1, 2 and 3 Old Cottage

GV II

How of 3 cottages, probably a single farmhouse originally. C16 or C17; No. 1 enlarged and extended at the front in early C19. Lean-to additions at rear. Roughcast cob and stone. Thatcned roofs, half-hipped at left-hand end. Yellow brick chimneystack in right-hand gable of No. 1; large rendered stack just behind the ridge of No. 2, off-centre to right; smaller rendered stack with C20 brick shaft on top at No. 3, on ridge off-centre to right. Original plan uncertain, but house must have had at least 3 ground-storey rooms. 2 storeys. Each cottage has 1 upper storey window, but this gives no idea of the length of the building. No. 1 (the right-hand cottage) has a C20 glazed door and wooden canopy to left; 1 C19 casement window in each storey to right. No. 2 has an old plank door, off-centre to right; 1 C19 casement window at far left of each storey, the upper-storey window pushing up into the thatch. No. 3 has an old plank door with wrought-iron strap-hinges at right-hand end; a C19 casement window at left-hand end of each storey and a small C19 window in centre of ground storey, the upper-storey window pushing up into the thatch. All windows have 2 lights with 6 panes each, except at No. 3 where the 2 left hand casements have an extra ½-pane at the outer edge of each light; the small window has a fixed 4-pane sash. In the back wall No. 2 has a late C16 or C17 wood- mullioned window of 2-lights in the ground storey, this having flat-splay mullions and rectangular leaded panes; in second storey is a 2-light wood mullioned window of late C18 or early C19 with small panes. Interior: No. 2 has in ground storey a large gable fireplace with chamfered wood lintel having straight-cut stops. Chamfered upper-floor beam without stops. The cottage was stripped for repair when inspected in 1985 and it was clear that the projecting front section was a later addition; the partition wall with No. 2 is thin and there is no division at all at roof level. No. 2 has heavy upper floor joists running from front to back. The left- hand second storey room has a side-pegged jointed-cruck truss, covered with plaster. There are some good C19 plank doors, 1 having a wooden bolt. Interior of No. 3 not inspected, but it is reported to have a stud-and-panel screen in the ground storey, dividing it from No. 2; also a large open fireplace with bread oven. The building is the best preserved in Liverton, retaining its C19 character almost intact. No. 2 is similarly well preserved inside, retaining many of its old plaster wall and ceiling surfaces.

Listing NGR: SX8046275156