Knole Cottage

Details

BOROUGH GREEN

191/0/10007 QUARRY HILL ROAD 01-SEP-06 7 KNOLE COTTAGE

II Cottage. Circa 1700 with early C19 rear roof extension, refenestrated in the C20 and with added porch and conservatory which are not of special interest.

MATERIALS: Mainly built of brick in Flemish bond, now painted but the upper floor of the south elevation is hung with pointed tiles. It has a Kentish ragstone plinth with limestone chip galleting which extends downwards into a stone cellar. There is a gabled tiled roof with brick chimneystack to the eastern end. It is of two storeys and attics with cellar and has two windows to the front elevation. All windows have been replaced by uPVC casements within the original openings. PLAN: A two bay end chimneystack house with rear outshot, part of which was later extended upwards.

EXTERIOR: The north or entrance front has a central hipped dormer. There are two windows to each floor with cambered openings to the ground floor. Central C20 porch with brick plinth and penticed tiled roof concealing an early C19 six-panelled door, the top two panels glazed. The east and west walls have been strengthened with breezeblocks, now painted, but the brickwork is visible internally to the west wall. The south side originally had a catslide roof to an outshot which is of painted brick but a further storey was added to the western end, hung with pointed tiles on the first floor south side but rendered to the east and west under a gabled roof. The north side has a first floor uPVC window in original opening and the ground floor has a four-light window obscured by a C20 conservatory which is not of special interest. The eastern part of the north side retains the catslide roof and a C19 gabled dormer. Attached to the ground floor is a gabled outbuilding, rendered with tiled roof. All windows are late-C20 uPVC replacements in their original openings.

INTERIOR: There is one large ground floor front room stretching the width of the building. The eastern wall has an open fireplace with wooden bressumer with spice hole and integral side seats. To the left is a cupboard with two-panelled door. The east wall has an exposed wall in flemish bond. The ceiling has axial beams with a very narrow chamfer and straight floor joists which would originally have been concealed by lath and plaster as the marks of the wet plaster remain. The south wall has a partition wall with a diagonal brace and there is a similar partition on two sides around the south western corner enclosing the staircase which is approached by a C17 plank door with iron hinges. The partition wall and the underside of the staircase have reused jowled posts. A four-panelled door leads into the rear ground floor room which has a blocked rear fireplace.

There is an original winder staircase to the first floor with a length of stick balustrading to the first floor landing. The north west bedroom has a ledged plank door with a square section cut out near the top. The north west bedroom was probably the principal bedroom as it was heated and has an C18 or early C19 wooden fireplace, axial beam, wide deal floorboards and a ledged plank door with handmade iron hinges. The south bedroom retains a partition wall with diagonal braces and has a two-panelled door in a moulded architrave. A further wooden winder staircase leads to the attic over the northern range only, comprising one attic room which has been boarded over. The roof structure is not visible but is likely to have purlins.

A stone winder staircase leads down into the cellar under the northern part of the building. This has a brick relieving arch on the east wall directly under the open fireplace, two small alcoves in the western wall and one in the south wall, probably used for placing a lantern.

HISTORY: The building is shown with its current footprint and path to the existing front door on the First Edition OS map, surveyed in 1867 and 1869. On this map, and all subsequent revisions, up to and including that of 1936, it is shown with other buildings adjoining it to the west but it is now free standing. It was at one time the end cottage of a row, the remainder having been demolished in the C20, but as the adjoining properties were narrower it is possible that it may have been built as a freestanding house originally and the other properties built later.

STATEMENT OF IMPORTANCE: Knowle Cottage is listed for its special architectural interest as an early C18 two bay end chimneystack house with a stone cellar and catslide outshot to the rear, partially heightened in the C19 with intact plan form and original internal features. Although the unsympathetic replacement of windows in the late C20 affects the character, the substantial survival of early fabric and plan form in this small early-C18 cottage is of special interest.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

496349

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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