Summary

A small late medieval cottage with 17th century - 18th century roof structure. It's of two storeys with a thatched roof over rubble stone walls with some cob.

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Description

Small single pile three cell two storey house, gabled at both ends. Front first floor windows are eyebrow dormers. Rear single storey lean-to with single pitch roof. Axial external stack on northwest end with semi-circular rear oven. Internal axial stack towards southeast end. Cottage faces directly onto lane with four steps up to front door. Ground behind cut out to make room for lean-to and facilitate drainage.

Roof of reed thatch covered with black twine netting. Front wall: rubble stone to first floor, squared stone in quoins, probably cob above as rendered and limewashed. Right hand ( eastern) ground floor window in blocked doorway. Walls batter out considerably. Small rubble stone buttress on north end. Northwest: end - rubble stone. Blocked window with wooden lintel to north of external stack, with render which angles up following an earlier roofline. Both windows with brick jambs, ground floor opening with tiled sill. Rear: rubble stone at north end, otherwise covered by lean-to. Southeast: end- rebuilt, breezeblock internally, rubble stone outside to first floor, capped with double roman tiles. Weatherboarding above, set back 0.2m. Lead flashing over first floor window pulled away at south end, needs to be put back. Lean-to: covered with grey roughcast render.

The thick walls ( 1m wide near base) and the way they batter in suggests a late medieval origin for the house. The cob front wall also suggests this. Probably a three cell cross-passage house with the parlour on the west end. The doorway in the sitting room cupboard gave access. West chimney built late 16c/ 17c, house ceiled with transverse beams supporting the west end floor. A spiral staircase led from sitting room to the first floor. No dating evidence for the east end ceilings or stack can be seen. During 17c/ 18c present roof structure of slight timbers put in. The east end stack was possibly built in the 19c ( no dating evidence visible) with fireplace in dining room. Cottage possibly converted into two at this time. The privy and garden shed was built in the late 19c in the southeast corner of garden. Bathroom inserted in 1960's in rear lean-to. Present staircase built 1980- 81, replacing spiral stairs from sitting room. Bathroom inserted on first floor. Rear lean-to built with utility rooms. Ground outside cut back giving drainage all round house.

Important Features:
External appearance with external stack and rear oven, thatched roof.
Pegged roof timbers ( 17c/18c).
Beams ( late 16c).
Fireplaces ( partially blocked) in sitting room, bedroom J.
Door frame in rear of cupboard against stack, sitting room ( 17c/18c), front door frame.

In a good state of repair - the lead needs replacing above the east gable window.

Outbuildings:

Garden Store and Privy ( disused): Single storey gable ended two cell outbuilding in top corner of garden. Corrugated asbestos ridge over limewashed rubble stone walls. Not shown on the 1876 Holnicote Estate map but on 1889 Ist edition OS Somerset sheet XXXIV.2 scale 1:2,500. Important features: external appearance, floors. In a fair state of repair. [1]


The cottage was recorded as part of the Holnicote Estate Survey in 2001 and is described as: 'a very attractive small truncated cross-passage house, probably medieval in origin as the walls batter in from the one metre thick base and the front wall is cob on the rubble stone base. The left hand room is the hall, with axial stack (now external) and a blocked doorway which probably gave access to the missing inner room. Lower room large, divided into two by an axial stack and rubble stone partition wall, probably in the 19c when the farmhouse was divided into two cottages. The roof structure is rough, replacement trusses and roundwood rafters. Right hand end of roof originally hipped.'. [2]

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