Long Cottage and Sunbeam Cottage

Summary

Two adjoining C17 cottages.

Reasons for Designation

Long Cottage and Sunbeam Cottage, two adjoining C17 cottages, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* a significant proportion of original fabric survives, providing evidence of vernacular building techniques and materials;
* the lobby-entry plan form of Long Cottage remains legible, and the early plan form of Sunbeam Cottage is indicated by the wide fireplace opening in the first bay with the staircase behind in its original position.

Historic interest:

* map evidence shows that the two cottages have been architecturally interlinked for almost two centuries at least.

Group value:

* it has strong group value with Elm Lea, and 13, 14 and 14a Church Street to the immediate west, and Church Farmhouse to the south, which are also timber-framed and plastered houses dating to the C17.

History

Little is known about the origins of Long Cottage (15a Church Street) and Sunbeam Cottage (15b Church Street), and both dwellings have been subject to numerous phases of alteration over the years. Long Cottage was built in the C17 as a three-bay, timber-framed house of one storey with accommodation in the attic. It had a lobby-entry plan consisting of an entrance lobby, behind which back-to-back fireplaces heated the first and second bays, with a staircase tucked behind. The projection on the west gable end, and the fourth bay on the east side (containing a bathroom and study) are different structurally: they are lower in height, and the timber framing is more rudimentary. It is possible that these parts of Long Cottage could be later extensions or were outbuildings subsequently incorporated into the main living accommodation.

Sunbeam Cottage, which adjoins the east end of Long Cottage, is also of a different construction. It is roughly the same height as the fourth, eastern bay of Long Cottage, indicating a third possibility that this bay was originally part of Sunbeam Cottage. If this is the case, Sunbeam Cottage may also have originated as a three-bay, timber-framed dwelling. The gable end of this fourth, eastern bay does not quite align with the adjoining bay, however, indicating that it may be an infill and that Sunbeam Cottage was therefore originally separate.

The earliest available map evidence is the Tithe map of 1841 which shows a building with a rectangular plan the same length as the current two cottages. The building is divided into two equal units, and the eastern unit (Sunbeam Cottage) has a projection on the southern half of the gable end. The property is described in the Apportionment as ‘Tenements and Garden’, owned by Henry Choat, and occupied by Ann Brown, James Cracknell, John Man and William Chapman.

On the first edition Ordnance Survey (OS) map of 1886 the buildings have a long rectangular plan divided into three, slightly unequal units. It appears that the two three-bay dwellings shown on the Tithe map were converted into three two-bay dwellings. Small projections are shown on the west gable end and the north side of the first dwelling; and an outshut is shown along the north side of the second and third dwellings. On the second and third edition OS maps of 1903 and 1926, the footprint of the building is the same, but the division of the three units is slightly different. The 1960 map shows that by this time 15a (Long Cottage) consists of the first four bays, whilst 15b (Sunbeam Cottage) consists of the last two bays, including the rear outshut on the north side which partly extends across the north side of Long Cottage. Between 1960 and the present map, this outshut has been slightly extended to the east, and the western part has been incorporated into Long Cottage.

Details

Two adjoining C17 cottages.

MATERIALS: Long Cottage is timber framed and plastered, and has a thatched roof with a scalloped ridge. Sunbeam Cottage is timber framed with cob infill, and a roof covering of pantiles.

PLAN: the building has an approximately rectangular plan, one room deep. It is oriented east-west, and faces south onto Church Street. Long Cottage occupies the four western bays with a small projection on the west gable end, and Sunbeam Cottage occupies the two eastern bays.

EXTERIOR: Long Cottage has one storey and an attic under a steeply pitched thatched roof which slopes down to the ground-floor windows and over the single-storey projection on the west gable end. A red brick chimney stack rises from the ridge between the first and second bays. The first three bays are lit by three-light wooden casement windows with glazing bars, set flush in the wall, and there are two dormer windows positioned above the eaves. All the fenestration dates to the early C21. The plank and batten front door, also of recent date, is between the first and second bay. The fourth bay, to the east, has one storey plus an attic, but is lower in height and has a pantile-clad roof. It is lit on the ground floor by a fixed, top-opening window, and in the upper floor by a two-light timber casement. The rear elevation is lit by two two-light timber casements, and a stable door (of recent date) occupies the last bay, flanked by smaller windows.

Sunbeam Cottage has a catslide roof with a red brick chimney stack rising from the ridge between the first and second bays. The front elevation is dominated by a large, late C20, gabled porch with plain bargeboards, lit by a two-light timber casement window. To the left, the ground and upper floors are lit by two-light horizontal casements, and to the right by three-light casements. The east gable end has two-light casements on each level, followed by a door with glazed upper panels. All the doors and fenestration are of recent date. On the rear elevation, the north side of the roof slopes over the outshut to ground-floor level. It is lit by two three-light casements on the left side.

INTERIOR: the front door of Long Cottage opens into the lobby entry, behind which are wide back-to-back fireplace openings with bressumers in the first and second bays. The fireplace in the second bay is brick-lined, and that in the first bay has a bread oven (with an inserted glazed panel in the door). The staircase, which would originally have been located directly behind the fireplaces, has been removed, and a modern oak staircase inserted into the third bay.

The roughly hewn timber frame is partly concealed by internal and external wall linings. A number of the framing elements are known to survive, such as the sole plate; whilst others are exposed, including the principal storey posts, wall plates, and some floor frames. On the ground floor, the infill panels of the bay divisions have been removed, leaving open spaces between the studs. In the west gable cross frame, the studs have been replaced with modern oak timbers, as have most of the floor joists in this first bay, although the wall plate remains. The bay division between the second and third bays has studs and primary bracing tenoned into the sill beam and the wall plate of the cross frame. The ceiling joists are exposed in the second and third bays; those in the second bay are tenoned into a substantial bridging beam which is strengthened by a long iron strap and supported by an upright (reused) central post. In the attic, the studs of the bay divisions are exposed above the doors. The common rafter roof is strengthened longitudinally by purlins, and some lath and plaster is known to survive underneath the plaster in the first and second bays. A partition wall has been inserted into the third bay to accommodate a bathroom. A number of thin plank and batten doors survive, of probable C18 date.

The single-storey projection on the west gable end (containing the kitchen) has a rudimentary, spindly timber frame, of possible C18 date. It retains a wall plate supporting the common rafter roof with tie beams. The fourth bay at the east end, which may have originally formed part of the adjoining dwelling, has a lower, structurally different roof. It has principal rafters, purlins, and substantial tie beams.

In Sunbeam Cottage the first bay is heated by a brick fireplace, behind which is a narrow staircase in its original position. The wide fireplace opening is brick-lined (probably dating to the 1970s) and has a substantial bressummer. The ceiling joists and the common rafter roof are roughly hewn and of slight scantling. Some of the joists have been replaced, and those in the second bay are supported by a bridging beam of recent date. The east and west gable ends have exposed studs resting on the wall plate. The west gable end (adjoining Long Cottage) is constructed of cob. The bay division between the first and second bays has studs tenoned into a cambered tie beam. The central section of the tie beam has been subsumed by the brick chimneybreast which may therefore have been added, or rebuilt, at a later date.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

426982

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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