Holly Cottage

Summary

Cottage of late C17 or C18 date, extended in the second half of C20. The 1960s north-east room, C20 north-west extension and uPVC windows are not of special interest.

Reasons for Designation

Holly Cottage, a late C17 or early C18 single storey timber-framed lobby entrance farm labourer's or smallholder's cottage, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Date: the original part of the cottage is of late C17 or early C18 date;
* Rarity of building type: single storey dwellings for poorer rural inhabitants such as this are rare in both type and survival;
* Regional and local characteristics: built of local timber with weather-boarded cladding typical of the region and retaining traces of original tarring;
* Plan: the original plan of heated living room, flanked by unequal-sized chambers is still readable;
* Interior features: includes an original open fireplace and chamfered ceiling beams, as well as plank doors;
* Proportion of survival: the timber frame survives substantially intact and is of good scantling with closely spaced studs, jowled corner posts and curved tension braces;
* Group value: part of a group of listed buildings in the hamlet of Highstead.

History

Holly Cottage is situated in the hamlet of Highstead along the old drovers road between Margate and Canterbury. It is a single-storey timber-framed building clad in weather-boarding. Originally it was a three-bay building, comprising a central living room with an open fireplace, a large bedroom to the north-east and a smaller bedroom to the south-west, both unheated. The building structure is shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1894.

Local residents state that the thatched roof caught fire when the stubble from adjoining fields was being burnt in the 1920s or 1930s and the roof covering was then replaced by asbestos sheeting. The partition between the living room and north-west bedroom survived into the mid-C20 and there was also a lean-to extension on the rear or north-west side. In the 1960s a further bedroom was added to the north-east side in matching materials, the existing lean-to rear extension was removed and a full-length flat roofed extension replaced it on the north-west side. The windows were replaced by uPVC casements but within the existing openings.

Details

Cottage of late C17 or C18 date, extended in second half of C20. The 1960s north-east room and C20 north-west extension are not of special interest.

MATERIALS: the original part of the cottage is timber-framed, clad in weather-boarding, which was originally tarred. Hipped roof, originally thatched but now covered in asbestos sheeting, with off central brick ridge chimneystack.

PLAN: originally a single-storey, three-cell cottage of lobby entrance plan, the central cell a heated living room flanked by a large chamber to the north-east and a smaller chamber to the south-west, both unheated. The front entrance was in the south-east side opposite the chimneystack. Later a lean-to addition was added to the north-west. In the 1960s the original plan was modified by the removal of the partition between the living room and north-east chamber, the addition of a further bedroom to the north-east, and the replacement of the rear lean-to by a full length single storey flat-roofed rear addition. The original front entrance was blocked.

EXTERIOR: the south-east or entrance front is clad in old weather boards to the original part and has three C20 casement windows within original openings. There is a recessed doorcase opposite the chimneystack with a four-panelled door. The south-west end has similar old weather boards and one C20 casement. The north-west end is also clad in weatherboarding. The original north-west or rear elevation (now internal) has the timber-frame exposed with studs, curved tension braces and a ledged plank rear door. The C20 addition is rendered with three pivoting C20 casement windows.

INTERIOR: the living room has a brick open fireplace at the west end, stretching the full width of the room except for the lobby. The chamfered wooden bressumer has run out stops and retains the marks of the cooking crane. There is a gabled salt or spice recess. The western part of the ceiling has a spine beam with a one and a half inch chamfer and chamfered floor joists. To the left of the fireplace is an early C19 plank door into the lobby. The eastern part of the living room has a slightly chamfered spine beam but no chamfers to the floor joists. The front and back walls of the living room have exposed closely spaced studs, jowled posts to the original eastern corners of the cottage and thick curved tension braces. The eastern wall of the living room (formerly an external wall) retains the original mid-post and slender tension braces from the corner posts to the wall plate, although the other timbers have been replaced by brickwork. Entrance into the south-west chamber is through the lobby by a ledged three plank door with pintle hinges. This room also has jowled corner posts with curved tension braces. The floor joists here are at right angles to the living room floor joists. Both the living room and south-west bedroom have wide attic floorboards visible. The attic has rough hewn rafters.

End of official list entry

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