1, The Quell Cottages

Reasons for Designation

Yes, list

Details

LURGASHALL

1899/0/10072 QUELL LANE
23-MAR-11 1, The Quell Cottages

II
Timber-framed house, originally two houses. C17 with later alterations. The mid C20 porch is not of special interest.

EXTERIOR: a one-storey-and-attic, two-bay, timber-framed building with a rebuilt central brick chimney stack and a half-hipped tiled roof with a catslide to the rear. The frame, which rests on a Wealden sandstone plinth, is visible on the ground floor of the north-east and south-west walls, where there is a single large principal post and secondary posts of more slender scantling with nogging in a mixture of brick and stone; the upper storey is tile-hung. There is a mid C20 porch on the south-west front, sheltering the modern front door. The main, north-west front is faced in Wealden sandstone and brick with tile-hanging above. The rear wall is a mixture of brick and stone, the brickwork probably C19 at the earliest. The windows are all casements, some in timber and others in metal. The north-west front has two gabled dormers, one retaining some diamond leaded panes. The back door is plank panelled.

INTERIOR: the plan comprises two front rooms, which share the central stack, and smaller ancillary rooms to the rear. The floor level steps down to the rear of the building, indicating the former extent of the cottages before the outshut was added. Part of the former external wall is also traceable, with a large corner post and quite closely-studded timbers on a wallplate and plinth. There are two former door steps in well-worn red brick, indicating where the two original cottages may have been entered, and the floors in the two principal ground floor rooms are paved in brick too. These two rooms have timber bressumers to the fireplaces, which both contain later grates and surrounds. The principal beams are in situ with chamfers and run out stops. Upstairs, the floor boards and a short run of balusters to the landing appear to be Victorian in date; there may have at some time been a second stair next to the present stair giving access to the northern parts of the upper storey when the house was two separate cottages. The king posts of two of the roof trusses, corner posts, wallplate and tie beams are visible upstairs. The doors throughout are timber, plank panelled and ledged, with the original pintle hinges.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: The outbuilding to the south-west has a stone and brick plinth, timber frame and cladding in large timber planks. It is single storey with a pitched tiled roof. Inside, crude partitions made of split tree trunks divide it into two sections, one with a simple loft.

HISTORY: 1 Quell Cottages is a timber-framed house, probably dating from the C17, with later alterations. These include the addition of a bay to the rear, which seems to have occurred not long after the house was constructed, as it is also timber-framed; the house has also been refronted in brick, tile-hanging and stone at a later date. The house appears with its current footprint on the tithe map for the area, dated c1840, and on subsequent Ordnance Survey maps. These, dated 1875 and 1912, suggest it originally formed two cottages. The tithe map also shows a second building nearby, likely to be an outbuilding or barn; it is also shown on the OS maps and is now either demolished or subsumed into a larger house (No 1 Quell Cottages). A second outbuilding - a timber-framed animal shed - is located to the south-west of the house and appears on the OS maps only, and not the tithe map.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: 1, Quell Cottages is listed at Grade II for the following principal reason:
* Architectural interest: a C17 house with a significant proportion of its original fabric surviving, including the timber frame, brick floors and plank-panelled doors with original hinges and handles.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

511462

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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