Thatched Cottage And The Cottage

A pair of adjacent semi-detached cottages at Hyde in the New Forest, derived from a late 18th-century cob and brick hovel. The building is listed at Grade II.

The two cottages—The Cottage (left) and Thatched Cottage (right)—share a single south-facing facade with a thatched hipped roof. They sit on a brick plinth surrounded by a later concrete platform. Although plainly one building, each cottage presents a different appearance. Both are constructed of cob with Flemish bond brick facing over most of the facade. The Thatched Cottage's brick is 19th-century hand-made, while The Cottage's brick appears to be later and machine-made. The front elevation of The Cottage features partial render incised to resemble ashlar blocks. The facade contains three ground-floor windows and one window in each cottage just below the eaves. The windows are 19th and 20th-century casements, mostly four lights on the ground floor but with twelve panes in the dormers. The remaining elevations are cement rendered over the cob. There are three brick chimneys: two on the Thatched Cottage and one on The Cottage. Both cottages have wooden and tin porches on the south side, with an additional substantial concrete porch and entrance on the east side of the Thatched Cottage. External doors in each cottage are among the building's earliest features: The Cottage has a very wide three-plank door, while the Thatched Cottage's east entrance has a four-plank and batten door, both at least 18th-century though with later door furniture. The roof structure comprises timber rafters, some roughly hewn poles from the forest and some more recent substantial wooden beams, covered with thatch.

Internally, the Thatched Cottage contains a chamfered cross beam. The stairs appear to have been repositioned during late 19th-century refurbishment of the earlier cottage. The Cottage has an inglenook fireplace, probably the original 18th-century fireplace with the chimney passing through the ridge rather than projecting externally. The fireplace occupies almost the entire east wall of the main room and features a later timber bressummer, 19th-century range, and bread oven. The fireplace in the Thatched Cottage's main room has a brick construction with wooden surround of late 19th or early 20th-century date; the rear room fireplace is likely contemporary.

The building is thought to date from the mid to late 18th century. The 1871 Ordnance Survey map shows it as a single oblong building aligned east-west, with a path from Hyde Common to its north side and an orchard to its south which later became the front elevation. By 1897, a one-bay extension had been added to the north side, presumably to allow division into two cottages. The 1909 map shows outbuildings had been added to the east, and the approach path had relocated to the south side, marking the shift of the front elevation from north to south.

Hovels of this type are now rare in the New Forest, representing an important building tradition of this part of Hampshire that has almost entirely disappeared. The survival of significant 18th-century fabric, combined with its contribution to the character of the New Forest and its rarity as a humble vernacular cob-built structure, gives the building considerable architectural and historical interest. The evolution of the plan form and 19th-century additions add further interest.