Summary
Timber-framed house probably originating in the first half of the C17, re-fronted in the C18 and extended in the C19.
Reasons for Designation
Braydeston Cottage, a timber-framed house probably originating in the first half of the C17, re-fronted in the C18 and extended in the C19, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* the building remains a legible example of a Georgian house (with an earlier core), retaining a significant proportion of historic fabric which provides important evidence of the evolution in building practices and materials, plan form, and styles of joinery and internal decorative features;
* the ovolo-moulded and chamfer stopped bridging beam in the bay on the west side of the entrance demonstrates fine craftsmanship, as does the good quality joinery from the Georgian phase including the elegant staircase and reeded doorcase.
Historic interest:
* it has evolved over several phases of development with significant elements from each phase surviving.
Group value:
* with the Grade II listed Manor House and former barn, which are also of C17 origin, situated on the other side of The Street to the south-east.
History
Braydeston Cottage probably originated around the first half of the C17 as a two-bay, timber-framed thatched cottage with an outshot and inglenook in the eastern bay and a steep staircase behind. Part of the timber frame survives, as does the inglenook (although partially rebuilt) and brick chimney-breast. A third bay was added to the west side, probably no later than the turn of the C18 as it has a substantial, ovolo-moulded bridging beam. The cottage was then gentrified in the Georgian period when the outer walls were rebuilt in brick, display cupboards were added either side of a fireplace in the west bay, and the roof was probably raised to provide better accommodation in the upper floor which was reached via a new staircase in the central bay. Another bay was added to the west gable end in the C19. The building is shown on the Tithe Map of 1840 with a small rear extension on the west end. This is also shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey (OS) map of 1882 which depicts the rear lean-to running across the length of the building. By the publication of the second edition OS map of 1907, a glasshouse has been attached on the south-west corner of the cottage but this, along with the small rear extension, is not shown on the third edition map of 1928. The brickwork of the rear lean-to is of three different phases; the earliest appears to be of the same type and bond as that on the façade.
Details
Timber-framed house probably originating in the first half of the C17, re-fronted in the C18 and extended in the C19.
MATERIALS: timber frame with rebuilt walls of hand-made red brick laid in a variation of Flemish bond under a thatched roof. Rear lean-to extensions of red brick, both hand-made and machine-made, under a pantile-clad roof. Red brick chimney stacks.
PLAN: the building is set back from The Street in a garden plot. It has a single-pile, rectangular plan with a rear lean-to running its full length.
EXTERIOR: the building has four window bays, and one and a half storeys under a steeply pitched, thatched roof with a scalloped ridge and parapets at the gable ends. Three chimney stacks with tall pots rise through the ridge at both gable ends and between the first and second bays (originally the end wall). The south-facing façade has irregularly spaced fenestration. In the first bay, added in the C19, are C20 double-leaf French windows, followed by tripartite timber casement windows with leaded lights and segmental heads under gauged brick arches. In between the windows, the six-panelled front door with two glazed upper panels, has an early C19 neoclassical doorcase with reeded jambs and corner roundels; the whole under a later open-sided porch with wavy bargeboards. The upper floor is lit by elongated dormer windows rising above the eaves with thatched roofs and applied timbering in the gable heads. The tripartite casement windows are similar to those below but possibly date to the turn of the C20.
The west gable end has tumbled in brickwork, a small C20 timber window at the upper level, and a coal store. The east gable end has been rendered and painted, and is lit by a small window at the upper level. At the rear of the building, the lean-to has three distinct phases: the central part is constructed of the oldest brick; to the left, the brickwork is later though of C19 date; and the section to the right is under a roof with a shallower pitch and is of 20 brick. The timber doors and windows are also C20 in date.
INTERIOR: this retains some C18 joinery in stripped pine, including two-panelled doors in moulded door-frames and folding shutters in the two reception rooms. The windows are complete with their original fittings. On either side of the entrance hall is a reception room, with a further room in the C19 extension to the west. There are two main areas of exposed timber framing. Behind the staircase in the central part of the lean-to, the passageway has wall frames consisting of posts with primary down bracing.
In the east room (to the right of the entrance hall), the west wall has posts and primary down bracing, all scored for the application of plaster; and the rear north wall also has down bracing. The bridging beam in this room is hollow and so probably not original, and the joists are painted black. The brick inglenook has been partially rebuilt and has a weathered bressumer with a chamfered inner edge. Located directly to the north of the inglenook is a straight flight with winders at the bottom.
In the entrance hall an elegant open well Georgian staircase with winders is fitted into a small area at the furthest end. It is of stripped pine and has an open string with carved tread ends, a steeply ramped moulded handrail which terminates with a scroll above a curtail step, one or two turned balusters per tread, and a delicate drop finial. The soffit is panelled and the dado on the staircase wall follows the line of the handrail. The west room (to the left of the entrance hall) has an ovolo moulded bridging beam with moulded stops, and joists which are painted black. The Georgian style fireplace in stripped pine has a Victorian style cast-iron inset with tiled cheeks, and is flanked by fitted C18 round-arched display cabinets. The door and glazed panels of the cabinet on the right appear to have been replaced; and the cabinet on the left has been knocked through to create access to the C19 extension, although the round-arched frame is intact. In the end bay, there is a C19 style fireplace and a C20 metal spiral stair.
On the upper floor in the east room (to the right of the landing) the wall plate is exposed along the rear (north) wall and a substantial, though crooked, tie beam is in front of the wide tapering brick chimney-breast. The position of the tie beam indicates the original low height of the roof space. The room to the left of the landing contains a reeded fireplace surround with a cast-iron inset by the designer and architect Thomas Jeckyll who became one of the leading figures in the Aesthetic Movement. The inset is in his characteristic geometric style with circular motifs and was made by Barnards Iron Founders of Norwich. The tiles either side have been removed. The principal rafter roof is constructed of straight-edged machine-sawn timbers of narrow scantling. The lean-to, other than the area of timber framing, has modern kitchen and bathroom fittings.
