Church Cottage

A cottage of early-mid C19 date with possible origins as an agricultural building and with a late-C20 extension and other alterations.

MATERIALS: constructed of rubble stone with a concrete pebble-dash render and red brick stacks. The porch is built of timber and brick with a slate roof.

PLAN: built on a north-east/south-west orientation and aligned on the road edge opposite the parish church. It is of two storeys and has a two-storey extension at the north-east end. It is rectangular on plan.

EXTERIOR: the principal front of the cottage faces south-east and is of three symmetrical bays with a central door enclosed in a glazed porch with a gabled roof. Above the modern glazed front door, the rubble stone construction is visible under paint. The porch is flanked by eight-over-eight timber sash windows (that to the left may be of C19 date and has no horns). The first floor has a C20 timber sash with horns to each bay.

To the right (north-east) is the façade to the two-storey extension of 1991, which is set back slightly from the C19 phase. It has two bays of eight-over-eight sash windows wtth horns to each floor. The windows have stone surrounds and concrete sills. There is a secondary entrance in the lean-to to the right end. The north elevation has a single-storey lean-to with two C20 sash windows.

The rear elevation to Heckley Lane is blind except for a single timber casement window to the first floor, likewise, the south gable end has no openings. The hipped roofs are covered in pantiles and there are modern brick chimney stacks to each end of the main roof. The 1991 roofline is of slightly lower height.

INTERIOR: the central lobby has a modern single flight stair flanked by principal rooms to each side with panelled doors. The south room has a modern fireplace with timber chimneypiece and stone inlay and hearth, flanked by full height built-in cupboards to either side. The window in this room retains wainscot panelling beneath the opening and pine floorboards. The north room has a fireplace with brick surround. A cupboard in the south-west corner gives access to the underside of the late-C20 stair. A door in the north wall leads into the kitchen and utility area of the late-C20 extension. The first floor has no fittings of historic note and has varied floor levels between the reconfigured south end of the cottage and the north extension. The roof is of modern construction with the remains of one truncated timber which is likely a principal rafter left in situ.