Dove Cottage and Twells

Details

CANN

ST 82 SE FOOT'S HILL 8/78 03-JAN-1985 Dove Cottage and Twells

II

Original row of 4 cottages, now a pair of cottages, built in the early-C18 with later additions and alterations.

MATERIALS: Local rubble stone with some red brick additions and timber roof structure with clay tile covering.

PLAN: The original four cottages have two storeys with a room on each floor. The cottages were extended to the rear in the late-C18 with ground floor kitchen ranges and first floor accommodation under gables. The buildings have since been adapted to form two houses, although the original divisions between living spaces are legible. Stairways to the first floor have been fitted next to the kitchen ranges. Outbuildings have, in some cases, become incorporated into the cottages.

EXTERIOR: The road front of the cottages has four principal bays, although its symmetrical arrangement has been altered, resulting in a seven window range. It is constructed of variously-sized grey stones cemented by broad, honey-coloured jointing. Two of the door openings and two ground floor windows have been adapted to full height windows. Each cottage has a wide C20 part-glazed, plank door and the ground floor openings have stone lintels. The first floor windows are smaller casements that are set close up to the eaves. The north elevation is multi-profiled, part of extension work from the C20/ C21 and is not listed under this designation. The rear elevation is constructed of coursed local stone under four late-C18 gables. The general arrangement of window openings is a large opening at first floor, centrally positioned in each gable, with a smaller window below it on either side. However, some of the openings have been altered and one has been sealed. Some iron frames remain, notably in Dove Cottage, and the other frames are timber. A concrete trench infills the gap between the gardens and the cottages, which has resulted in an arrangement of plastic rainwater goods across the elevation. There is a late-C20 dormer extension in the gable valley to Twells. To the south the stone outbuildings to Twells have retained their single storey appearance, but adjoin the house via a pan-tiled lean-to extension. A window opening has been inserted in the south elevation and each of the flanks have modern entranceways. The gable-ended roof has over-sailing eaves and there are three red brick chimneys with new caps. The clay tile roof includes some fish scale tiles.

INTERIOR: Access to Dove Cottage is through the modern extension via an inserted opening to the rear kitchen range. The rear range was added in the late-C18, probably at the same time as the two-light iron windows were inserted across the cottages, possibly replacing earlier stone-mullioned fittings. The rear range of both cottages is at a lower level than the main range and has exposed sawn unstopped beams and joists. Stairways have been inserted at each end closest to the wall between cottages. The main range in Dove Cottage has two rooms divided by a partition wall. Each room has an early-C18 shallow-chamfered beam with no stops. The northernmost room has an inserted modern beam. Both rooms have modified fireplaces. The corresponding rooms in Twells have a similar layout and the southern room has a surviving inglenook. Both rooms have timber window seats and stone window architraves. The first floor of each cottage features modern partitioning and ceilings. Although much of the roof structure of Dove Cottage has been replaced in the C20, there is still evidence of C18 structure, principally in the room above the front door. The roof of Twells was not inspected.

HISTORY: The building is recorded as a row of four cottages with associated outbuildings on the Ordnance Survey map of 1888. The cottages and would have served working families in this rural industrial hamlet, to the south of Shaftsbury. The group are intact although they have been adapted to form two attached houses. A rear kitchen range was added to the buildings in the late-C18/ early-C19 accommodating four, south-facing gables at roof level. During the later C19 and C20 outbuildings, possibly washhouses, were either incorporated into the buildings (to the north) or attached via an extension (to the south).

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: Dove Cottage and Twells, Cann are designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Their additions and alterations have not diminished their C18 appearance. * Interior alterations, while extensive to the first floor, have not affected the legibility of the building. * The building retains historic details such as the wrought iron windows. * The building meets the high level of intactness which is required of buildings of this type and date . * The cottages have a strong architectural presence as a group.

Listing NGR: ST8748620972

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

102920

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Royal Commission on Historic Monuments; Inventory of Dorset Vol 4, (1972), 9

End of official list entry

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