47, 48, 49, 50 (ARCH COTTAGE), 51 (ORIEL COTTAGE), 53 AND 54, CHURCH LANE

A row of seven former estate cottages on Church Lane in Doulting, built in 1881 by the Norwich architect George John Skipper for Sir Richard Paget of Cranmore Hall. The cottages appear to have been constructed in several phases: numbers 47-48 and 53-54 predate the central section (numbers 49-51), which was erected in 1881, with the outer cottages probably re-fronted in matching style at that time.

The buildings are two storeys high, designed in Tudor style. They are constructed of Doulting stone with freestone dressings; numbers 49-51 are of finer ashlar. The slate roofs feature large axial stacks with grouped polygonal shafts and moulded caps.

The exterior fenestration consists of two-, three-, and four-light stone mullioned windows set below hood-moulds with label-stops. Numbers 47-48 are each of three bays with a three-light mullioned window to either side of a central doorway and four two-light windows to the first floors. The central section (numbers 49-51), spanning four bays, has an asymmetrical roadside elevation that projects forward slightly. The third bay displays angle buttresses and a front-facing gable, with an oriel window featuring crenellated capping at first floor level and a throughway with four-centred arch opening below. The two end bays of the central section have gabled half-dormers with transom windows. A stone plaque carved with "1881" is set in the left-hand gable. Numbers 53-54 are each of two bays and differ from the other cottages in having four-centred arch-headed lights to each window, set below flat hood-moulds. There are five doorways with plank doors in the principal elevation; those for numbers 50 and 51 are set within the throughway. The rear elevation is plainer, with two-light mullions and fairly simple surrounds, though some windows have been replaced or newly inserted. Twentieth-century extensions have been built to the rear of numbers 48, 51 and 53.

The interior retains a good survival of original features including late 19th-century joinery and some good stone fireplaces. The ground floor plan form of each cottage is largely unaltered, although 20th-century rear extensions have been added to some.

To the rear of number 49 is a single-storey detached outbuilding of plain stone construction.

These cottages form part of a larger group of estate cottages built in Doulting in the late 19th century for Sir Richard Paget. An illustration of the cottages by Skipper was published in The Builder periodical on 24th August 1889.