Summary
A timber framed cottage of the C16 or earlier, ceiled over in the C17 and extended in the C19 and C20.
Reasons for Designation
Tudor Cottage, Lower Road, Stutton, a C16 vernacular building, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural Interest: despite some alterations, the Cottage retains a significant proportion of historic fabric pre-dating 1700 and is constructed with craftsmanship using good quality timber and carpentry;
* Interior: the historic alteration to the cottage demonstrates the evolution of houses in the later medieval and post-medieval periods which adds to its architectural interest. The inglenook fireplace and C19 cupboards are features of note;
* Group Value: the Cottage is located in close proximity to other listed buildings with which it has group value and offers it additional interest.
History
Tudor Cottage dates from the C16 or earlier, but the earliest configuration of the building is unclear. In the C17, a ceiling was inserted and an external stack added at the east end. The building was extended to the west in the C19, and an off-centre stack inserted, probably when the cottage was subdivided into two dwellings. The list description of 1989 describes the building being known formerly as White Horse Cottages. It is possible that the building was a public house before it was subdivided, but it is also said that the properties were previously auctioned at the White Horse Public House in Ipswich and became known colloquially as White Horse Cottages thereafter.
In the C20, some of the rear, ground floor wall frame was replaced with brick. The fireplace in the right-hand room was rebuilt and a staircase inserted from the ground floor to the first. More recently some windows to the front and rear were replaced and a conservatory was added to the rear.
Details
MATERIALS: timber framed and plastered with plain red tiles to the front pitch and pantiles to the rear pitch of the roof.
PLAN: a three-bay cottage comprising a two-room plan extended to the west in the C19.
EXTERIOR: a single-storey cottage with an attic. The gable roof has an offset, external left (east) chimneystack of the C17, and C19 ridge stacks to the centre and right (west) end. The facade has C20 windows with two, gabled domers above, and a boarded door with an added pediment at the west end. The west elevation, and part of the rear, is built with brick, over-painted. The east elevation is dominated by the staged, external stack; the end principal rafter is partly exposed at the gable. The rear elevation has C20 windows at the ground floor, three flat-roofed dormers at the first floor and a projecting conservatory at the east end. The C19 bay to the west is slightly advanced.
INTERIOR: the ground-floor, timber wall frame to the front retains pegged studs, and wall posts of substantial scantling, except at the centre where there has been replacement with low-grade materials. The cross frames to each end of the earliest phase and the room partition retain wall posts, midrails and some studs. The rear wall frame has been replaced with brick; the wall posts are modern replacements. The floor frame is of the C17: the transverse bridging beams are substantial with a wide chamfer, but are devoid of stops and attached to the wall posts with iron straps, suggesting that they are earlier beams were reused. The fireplace in the west room was rebuilt in the C20, but the east room retains a large inglenook fireplace with a replaced bresummer. The C19 bay to the west has ceiling joists of thin scantling.
The timber framing on the first floor survives well. The wall and cross frames retain jointed and pegged wall posts, including a jowled storey post to the rear of the west end room, and studs. The wall plates, tie beams and common rafter roof remain largely intact. There are C19 cupboard doors in the left-hand room.
