Stanley Cottage

Stanley Cottage comprises two cottages, originally a single dwelling, dating to 1665, though possibly earlier. It is located on Manor Road, Alcombe, Minehead. The building is constructed of painted rubblestone with a thatched roof, gabled on the left side, hipped in the centre, and with rubblestone stacks at the left gable end and centrally on the ridge of the right-hand section (No. 20). The plan is of two units, with a 19th-century rear wing on the left side, now forming part of Cefn Court. No. 22 has a projecting hall bay to the right of the entrance.

The cottage is two storeys high with a three-window front. A doorway to the left of No. 22 is a later addition, set back with a shallow buttress continuing the side wall and an unsupported corner of the roof above. A central projecting rectangular bay features a datestone inscribed "I L E 1665" and a three-light leaded casement window with painted ovolo timber mullions to both floors; these occupy the corner, with a single-light window on the return side. A similar window is on the first floor to the right, with a taller 19th-century two-light casement below. First-floor windows are at eaves level. No. 20, a single-storey with attic, is set back. A two-light leaded casement window within a half-dormer is positioned right-of-centre on the first floor, with a similarly placed window under a timber lintel on the ground floor. A slightly taller 19th-century casement window sits below the dormer. A 20th-century door with a lean-to porch on brackets is located left-of-centre. The rear wings, now integrated into Cefn Court, are located to the left.

The interior of No. 22 on the left has an open fire with a blocked former bread oven to the rear and a blocked stone water boiler to the right. Above the oak lintel is a plaster frieze depicting mythical anthropomorphic figures alternating with strapwork. The ceiling features two groups of plaster pomegranates and scrolls, with a chamfered oak beam to the right. A painted wood Tudor arch is found at the top of the oak newel stair to the right of the fire. The ground-floor rear-right corner purportedly contains a boarded-over stone Tudor arch leading to No. 20. The upper room, now divided, has a narrow ovolo-moulded cornice below the purlins, serving as ceiling level, with two large plaster Tudor roses centrally placed. The small upper room above No. 20 features a cambered tie beam to the hipped roof. No. 20 possesses an unusually high ceiling and what appears to be a papered-over jetty end. A Tudor arch to the left of the rear wall connects to a lean-to.

Stanley Cottage is a complex and well-preserved example of West Somerset vernacular architecture, notable for containing some significant 17th-century plasterwork.