Description
Two storey, three cell building, north cell included in No 127, with two storey extension on north end with front wall set forward 0.4m. As the extension width is less than that of the house the back wall is over one metre further in. The northeast corner of the house has been removed and was an angled doorway. Gabled south end with external stack, continued as stair turret. North end with internal stack and small half hip. Ridge continuous, as is front pitch of roof, but rear pitch shortened over removed northeast corner, with break and steeper pitch over north extension. Gabled porch over each front door, four raked dormers in front elevation and one in the rear of house. No 126 ( The Cottage): rear single storey lean-to with single pitch roof, roof between this and stair turret. No 127 ( Walnut Tree Cottage): lean-to near back door with porch roof continued across it from rear wall of house ( Lavatory). Lean-to on north end ( Coal House/ Wash House). Roof originally thatched, now double roman tiles with matching ridge, extra row on rear over stair turret, very deep eaves over back wall of house ( along landing). Porches double roman tiles with matching ridge. Rear lean-to of No 126, asbestos slates. Rubble stone walls with patches of different build, obviously much repaired, all purple, grey or green sandstone, randomly laid but roughly squared for quoins and jambs. The irregularity of the walls of the original house, and the way they batter in, suggests a medieval date, 15c/16c. No original roof structure, nor early partitions, survive so evidence to confirm this is not available. By the 17c three room, probably cross-passage house, with possible front hall stack and south axial stack. Stair turret on southeast corner. Recorded as 'Neil's cottage and garden, tenant Henry Phelps' in 1809-12 Holnicote Estate Survey under West Luccombe Manor. Converted to two cottages in the early/ mid 19c, the 1842 Luccombe Tithe map has the property occupied by two tenants, and it has been used as two dwellings ever since. The outbuilding on the north end was converted to living accommodation and the two porches were added. Important Features: External appearance with good porches. Stair turret. Timber in south wall near fireplace of living room ( if uncovered this should be looked at). Fireplaces in No 126, living room, and No 127, sitting room. All plank doors, especially 18c and early/ mid 19c. Casement windows, especially early 19c leaded. In a good state of repair, but pane of frosted glass broken in bathroom of No 127. Outbuildings: The Cottage: Privy/ Garden Shed, now store: Single storey rectangular building with gable ends set east of the house and parallel to it. Roof of double roman tiles, with matching ridge, over partly coursed sandstone walls. Shown as slightly disjointed on the 1889 OS Somerset Sheet XXXIV.6, scale 1;2,500, with a pen in front of the third ( north) cell which was probably a pigsty. On the 1903 Second Edition Sheet XXXIV.6 shown as at present, but with a pen on the east side. The 1929 revised Second Edition shows three little enclosures along east side of the building, maybe pigs and chickens were kept. Important features: external appearance and privy seat. In a poor state of repair, the heavy growth of ivy and bushes needs killing, and removing when dead. The broken tiles should be replaced. Walnut Tree Cottage: Lavatory: Lean-to on east wall of house, not shown on any map, late 20c. Roof of asbestos slates over concrete block walls. In a fair state of repair. Coal House/ Wash House, now store: Lean-to on north end of cottage, not shown on 1889 O.S. Somerset Sheet, XXXIV.6, but on 1903 2nd Edition. Built as a coal and wash house, two cells, with set-pan copper in northeast corner. Roof of double roman tiles over walls of grey and purple sandstone rubble, some waterworn. Important feature: external appearance. In a good state of repair.
Shed: Small rectangular shed, single pitch roof, not shown on any map, late 20c. Felt roof over vertical plank walls. In a good state of repair.
Garden Shed: Small, rectangular shed, gable-ended, not on any map, late 20c. Tarred felt roof over weatherboard walls. In a good state of repair. [1]
The cottages were recorded seperately as 115126 and 115127, as part of the Holnicote Estate Survey in 2001 and is described as:
No. 126 (Cottage): two rooms of a three room 17c house, held under a single tenancy until the early 19c. The irregularity of the walls, their thickness (particularly in the rear wall) and the patching suggest a probably late medieval date for the origins of the building. There is no evidence for a cross-passage, but the interior has been altered. External stack on the south end with a probably oven under the turret stairs, the fireplace is part infilled. The house was converted to two cottages in the early 19c. Small lean-to on the rear wall giving space for a bathroom was added probable in the 1960s/70s.
No. 127 (Walnut Tree Cottage): the third room of the house as described in site 115126. The northeast corner was angled off probably in the 19c, whether because of a collapse is not known. The large room forming the north end of the cottage was an outbuilding, but was converted in the 19c for living accommodation. It has an internal stack on the north wall. A lean-to on the north end and a small mid 20c one on the rear wall complete the accommodation. [2]