Summary
Formerly two C17 century attached cottages, now a single dwelling.
Reasons for Designation
Upper Vatch Mill (formerly Valley House), formerly two C17 attached cottages but now a single dwelling, are listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as an early surviving example of vernacular cottages with intact C17 interrupted tie beam roof of two phases;
* for its legible plan-form with surviving internal features such as fireplace, bread oven, window lintels and ceiling beams with decorative stops.
Historic interest:
* as a set of cottages most likely associated with the original Upper Vatch Mill and the wider Stroud valley mill industry in the C17.
History
Upper Vatch Mill (formerly Valley House) is located on land once associated with a former paper-mill turned cloth-mill. The original mill building is known to have been located on land to the north of the current building by the C18 and C19 and referred to as Upper Vatch Mill.
Stroud and its surroundings have had a long association with mills and the cloth industry which dominated the economic life of the parish by the early C17. This continued into the C18, a period of great prosperity for the trade. The Slad brook that runs through the Slad valley is known to have originally had nine mills associated with it, of which Upper Vatch Mill was one.
The original mill building seems to have started as a paper-mill. By the late C18 the occupiers Francis Chapman and William Ward are described as ‘paper-makers’ in written records. At this time the mill was known as the highest paper mill in Stroud. By 1824 it is thought to have been converted for use as a cloth-mill and the building was rebuilt in 1830 and again in 1833, when the ground-floor was used for fulling by water-power and upper floors housed weaving-shops. By this time the mill is thought to have been owned by N.S Marling and worked in conjunction with the Vatch and Peghouse Mills. By 1882 the building was disused, being marked as such on the 1885 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Map. Documentary evidence would suggest that the mill was demolished by 1901 and it is no longer extant on the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey Map.
The building currently referred to as Upper Vatch Mill was most likely a collection of C17 cottages associated with the original Upper Vatch Mill complex. Such cottages provided accommodation for the mill owners and workers, often undergoing successive alteration and redevelopment to fit changing needs. At Upper Vatch Mill this process has resulted in a complex multiphase building.
The original construction date for the buildings now referred to as Upper Vatch Mill is unknown. Architectural analysis of the surviving fabric, which includes two phases of an interrupted tie-beam roof as well as stone and timber detailing, would suggest that they date from the C17. The two different roof constructions that survive and the location of a straight joint on the front elevation provides evidence that the buildings may have originally been constructed as a single dwelling or pair of cottages that were later extended. The lintel above the northern entrance door to the front range is inscribed with the date 1752 and an internal window lintel (now blocked) with the southernmost bay is thought to show the date 1756.
The 1st Edition OS Map of 1885 identifies a range of three individual attached buildings, however from their size it can be assumed that the third, to the north, is most likely a small workshop or lean-to extension. This map also identifies a small rear range possibly suggesting the original building had a continuous outshut.
Early C19 maps identify only two buildings at this location, however with the same footprint as the three buildings previously identified. This supports the theory that the northern range was merely an extension or lean-to.
An undated photograph on the Mills Archive website shows the building with two front doors and a projecting porch on the northern end. A photograph from the mid C20 shows the building with two front doors with the porch removed but a scar showing its position remaining. Both photographs show a small open fronted projection to the south that no longer survives. It is understood that the entire building was empty and became derelict between 1953 and 1976.
During the late 1970s the property was restored and became a single dwelling. During these works the front elevation was altered. These works are known to have included the introduction of a three-light window in place of the entrance door and casement window on the west elevation alongside internal alterations which included the removal of original staircases.
It is not known exactly when the rear range was extended to match the depth of the front range. It is likely this predated the previous listing survey, undertaken in the early 1980s and published in 1990, as it describes a single storey flat-roofed extension to the rear. Blocked windows remain visible in the, now internal, rear wall of the front range providing evidence that it was likely once single depth. Plans dated January 1983 show proposals for the raising of the rear range to its current height.
Based on the evidence available it is likely that the current plan form includes at least four, if not five, phases of development in the building’s history. Fabric analysis would suggest that some earlier fabric was incorporated in the rebuilding or extending of the building.
A conservatory was added to the southern end of the rear range in 1992 requiring the removal of the gable wall of this range at ground-floor.
Details
Formerly two C17 century attached cottages, now a single dwelling.
MATERIALS: course squared limestone with stone detailing and a concrete tile roof.
PLAN: double depth rectangular plan of multiple phases with two storeys, attic and semi-basement and C21 conservatory to the south.
EXTERIOR: the front elevation, facing west, is of three-bays over two-storeys with attic and semi-basement. The roof has three full dormers and short gable chimney stacks. The first two bays each have a set of three-light chamfered-mullion casements under continuous common stop hood moulds at first and second-storey. The second bay has a partially sunken basement window. A straight joint in the stonework is located between the second and third bays, and the third bay has a single entrance door and three-light chamfered-mullion casements under individual common stop hood moulds at first and second-storey.
The north end elevation is double gabled, the left being stepped back. On the right is a protruding stack with single doorway to the right and single-light window above. The timber doorway lintel has the date 1752 carved into it. The roof scar of a single-storey extension or porch remains visible over the doorway. The left has a central entrance door with a four-centred arched doorway and modern plank door flanked by single casement windows under common stop hood moulds and a three-light chamfered-mullion casement under a common stop hood mould at first-floor. The return to the right gable has single three-light chamfered-mullion casements under common stop hood moulds at ground and first-floor. At first-floor a blocked-in doorway is also visible in the stonework.
The east (rear) elevation is of two-storeys with a flying staircase from the first-floor to the raised east garden and a single-storey conservatory wall extension with ball finial to the south. There is a three-light and a two-light chamfered-mullion casements windows under a continuous common hood mould with off-centre single doorway at ground-floor. A straight joint is visible between ground and first-floor. The first-floor has a three-light and a two-light chamfered-mullion casement and a single entrance door under individual common stop hood moulds. The conservatory extension has a blind mirror glazed two-light chamfered-mullion window under individual common stop hood mould.
The south elevation is a double gable. The left has a protruding bread oven to the right of the stack with two-light window under common stop hood mould at first-floor and single-light window in plain surround at second storey. The right-hand gable has a projecting C21 conservatory flanked by screen walls with ball finials at ground-floor and a single-light window under common hood mould at first-floor.
INTERIORS: the main entrance to Upper Vatch Mill is located on the northern end of the rear-range and leads into an entrance hall with modern panelling, cupboards and WC. Beyond is a modern fitted kitchen, the northern wall of which has been removed to give access to the C21 glazed conservatory extension. The western wall of these rooms remains painted stonework and blocked windows are visible.
A single doorway with modern two-leaf glazed doors within the western wall of the entrance hall leads into the northern room of the front-range. This room is open for two bays with two ceiling beams with ogee stops that run east to west and rest on timber window lintels. An inserted staircase is located against the southern wall. The most southern beam is supported by a substantial upright post and retains open mortice joints. The windows have projecting stone window seats with timber panelling. The northern wall has a modern two panelled glazed door and fireplace, raised on stone plinth with potentially re-used timber lintel with ogee stops. A single doorway in the southern wall leads into a smaller room at the southern end of the building. This room is also accessed via a single doorway from the western wall of the kitchen. This room includes a fireplace and bread oven with chamfered lintel and straight stops. The room has one timber beam with run-out stops, repeated on the window lintels. A blocked window to the east retains its timber lintel with graffiti with the letters AC, WH 1756 and V inscribed. All walls are plastered other than that to the north which is roughly dressed stone.
The central staircase leads to an open hallway at first-floor level providing access to a room to the north with one roughly chamfered beam running east to west. To the east of the hallway is a small bathroom and corridor that provides access to the study within the rear-range and a staircase to the attic-storey. To the south is a large bedroom with a centrally located squared beam with run out stops supported by the window lintel and a lintel over a recess to the west. A doorway in the western wall leads into a small modern bathroom.
The staircase to the attic lands into an open plan space with two pegged interrupted tie beam trusses with staggered purlins with later bolted collar. The northernmost truss has been reinforced with an iron stirrup and strap. A modern removeable partition has been inserted close to the second truss. A full partition with entrance door separates this room from a small bedroom to the south. This room has one interrupted tie beam truss, of simpler construction that those to the north and possibly earlier. An ensuite bathroom and small cupboard are located either side of the chimney stack recess.
