East Haxted Farm Cottage

Reasons for Designation

East Haxted Farm Cottage is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * The plan form of single bay end chimneystack cottage with outshot, extended by one bay to form an L-wing circa 1800 and linked to a mid C18 single storey agricultural building, is unaltered; * A significant proportion of original fabric, including brickwork, timberframing, tile-hanging and including the roof structure, survives intact; * Original decorative detail includes an external plank door, four ledged plank doors to the interior, an open fireplace and some chamfered beams with runout stops. * Modest C18 agricultural worker's cottages rarely survive so little altered. * It is part of a farm group which includes the original farmhouse and a barn which are listed Grade II.

Details

188/0/10027 HAXTED ROAD 20-NOV-08 HAXTED EAST HAXTED FARM COTTAGE

II Farm cottage with attached agricultural building. The north east bay of the cottage and south west agricultural building are mid C18, the south west bay was added circa 1800, linking the two earlier parts. The cottage was refurbished in the 1930s. The attached late C19 barn with C20 corrugated roof is not of special interest.

MATERIALS: The ground floor of the cottage is red brick in Flemish bond with some vitrified headers and the first floor tile-hung over a timber frame of thin scantling. The tiled roof is gabled to the north west, hipped to the south west and south east with a catslide roof to the south west and has an original end chimneystack to the north east and C20 external chimneystack to the south west.

PLAN: The north east bay of the cottage was constructed first as a two storey single bay end chimneystack cottage with outshot, comprising one heated room and outshot on the ground floor and a single heated room above. This was extended to the south west by a further two storey bay, comprising an unheated ground floor room and two unheated first floor rooms, which altered the plan of the cottage to an L-shape. This extension also linked the cottage to a single storey two bay farm building. All three elements are separately framed.

EXTERIOR: The north west or entrance front has a brick dentil cornice between the ground and first floor of the southern bay only. There are two early C20 wooden casements, a further ground floor casement window to the return of the southern bay and a 1930s plank door with glazed panel and iron hinges to the northern bay. The north east side has an end brick chimneystack projecting only on one side where the first floor is tile-hung. On the other side timber framing of thin scantling is exposed at first floor level. The south east side has a catslide roof to the northern bay, which has an early C20 wooden casement window and plank door. The attached single storey agricultural building has a dentil cornice and wide doorcase with wooden architrave and plank door.

INTERIOR: The ground floor north western room has an C18 open fireplace with wooden bressumer with one inch chamfer and runout stops and wooden shelf supported on wooden brackets. The brick left side has been worn down by knife sharpening and has a brick seat. The brick right side retains the blocked arch of a breadoven, removed in the 1930s when a larder was constructed in the outshot. The ceiling joists were originally covered by lath and plaster which had been removed. A ledged plank door in the partition wall leads both to the outshot and a steep straight flight staircase. The first floor timber frame with diagonal braces is visible in the outshot. Adjoining is a small bathroom. The southern ground floor bay of the cottage is accessed through the northern bay and has a sloping ceiling with exposed floor joists and a 1930s brick and tile-on-edge fireplace. The first floor north west bedroom has a tiebeam with one inch chamfer with run out stop and retains the shadow of the wide chimneybreast in the plaster. A later airbrick indicates the presence of a blocked original fireplace. Part of the ceiling is boarded but the roof structure was visible with original thin coupled rafters with ridgepiece. A ledged plank door leads to the southern bay which has a separate roof from the northern bay and appears to be separately framed. It contains two rooms. The roof is of similar construction to the southern bay with thin coupled rafters and much of the wall frame is visible in the south west room but boarded over in the south east room. Each room is approached through a ledged plank door. The attached south agricultural building is of two bays with staggered purlin roof with angled queen struts to the central truss. It is separately framed from the cottage.

HISTORY: East Haxted Farm Cottage was built as a farmworker's cottage to East Haxted Farm in the C18, in two phases. It is first shown on the 1897 Ordnance Survey sheet. The footprint is unchanged from the present day except that a line is drawn between the north western bay of the building and the L-wing, suggesting it was divided into two cottages at that time although no second staircase survives. On the 1912 Ordnance Survey sheet both parts of the cottage are united but there is a line drawn between the cottage and the south western agricultural building. The cottage was refurbished in the 1930s.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: * The plan form of mid C18 single bay end chimneystack cottage with outshot, extended by one bay circa 1800 and linked to a mid C18 single storey agricutural building, is unaltered; * A significant proportion of original fabric, brickwork, tile-hanging and timber-framing, including the roof structure, survives; * Original decorative detail includes an exterior C18 plank door and four ledged plank doors to the interior, an open fireplace and some chamfered beams with runout stops; * Modest C18 agricultural worker's cottages seldom survive little altered, and this is therefore a good example; * It is part of a farm group which includes the listed farmhouse and a barn.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

505899

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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