25-26, THE SQUARE

Reasons for Designation

* The essential structure of the building is a C16 longhouse retaining an abundant amount of well-preserved early timberwork including four substantial cruck frames * It is considered to be the oldest surviving domestic structure within Dalston and has group value with other listed buildings around the village square.

Details

DALSTON

128/0/10012 THE SQUARE 07-FEB-08 25-26

II Two single-storey cottages converted about the mid-C19 out of a probable late-medieval longhouse of mid-C16 date.

MATERIALS: Snecked sandstone and rubble with later brick additions rendered in pebbledash beneath a slate roof.

PLAN: Rectangular with a small lean-to addition to the rear.

EXTERIOR: The building is of five bays with No. 25 occupying the two left bays and No. 26 occupying the three right bays. The front elevation has sash windows with horns and glazing bars with window panes arranged two-over-two. Front doors to both properties are of timber with three longitudinal panels below small glass lights arranged three-over-two. All door surrounds, window sills and lintels are plain and painted. The rear elevation has a low, flat-roofed full-length later extension with two plain windows, one to each property, in the rear wall above the extension. The extension itself has a mix of horned sash windows and later sash windows. Window sills are a mix of sandstone and concrete. The rear door to No. 26 is of a similar design as the front doors whilst the rear door of No. 25 is a modern timber and glass addition. There is a brick chimney stack to No. 26.

INTERIOR: No. 25 has a living room and bedroom at the front with kitchen, bathroom and second bedroom off a corridor to the rear. The fireplace in the living room is blocked and a modern gas fire installed. Part of a cruck frame is visible in two walls of the living room. The attic contains numerous early roof timbers and a substantial cruck frame. There is a brick-built flue against the left sandstone dividing wall and a modern brick-built firewall between Nos. 25 & 26. It has a living room and bedroom at the front with bathroom, kitchen and second bedroom off a central corridor to the rear. Surviving early timberwork is visible in the living room includes parts of two cruck frames and a painted ceiling beam. The fireplace is a modern addition. The front bedroom has part of a cruck frame visible. The fireplace in this room has been removed and blocked. The rear bedroom has a simple fire surround. There is part of a cruck frame visible in the central corridor. The attic contains a brick chimney stack and numerous early roof timbers including the three substantial cruck frames partly visible elsewhere in the building. There is also evidence to suggest that the early front window openings were larger than they are at present.

HISTORY: Nos. 25-26 The Square, Dalston, is a cruck-framed building which may originally have been constructed as a thatched-roofed medieval longhouse. Similar buildings in the area have been dated to between 1489 and 1615. It is considered to be the oldest surviving domestic structure in the village. Over a period of time several changes have been made to the building; these included the addition of a rear outshot, the insertion of a brick chimney stack, removal of the thatched roofing and replacement with slate, division of the building into two cottages and modification of the front windows. Some of these changes are considered to have taken place in the mid-C19. In more recent times the outshot has been removed and replaced by a single-storey extension.

SOURCES: Nina Jennings, `Dalston, 26 The Square': Unpublished short building survey (1995). Nina Jennings, Clay dabbins: vernacular buildings of the Solway Plain (2003), 33, 36 & 92

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION Nos. 25 & 26 Dalston Square is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * The essential structure of the building is a C16 longhouse retaining an abundant amount of well-preserved early timberwork including four substantial cruck frames * It is considered to be the oldest surviving domestic structure within Dalston and has group value with other listed buildings around the village square.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

503924

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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