Washdyke Cottage

Summary

Former farmhouse dating to around the 1720s and subdivided in the late C19 or early C20.

Reasons for Designation

Washdyke Cottage, a former farmhouse dating to around the 1720s and subdivided in the late C19 or early C20, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* it remains a legible example of an early-C18 farmhouse with a lobby-entry plan form;

* it retains a significant proportion of historic fabric which provides important evidence of the development in building practices and materials, plan form, methods of cooking and heating, and styles of joinery.

Historic interest:

* it has evolved over several phases of development with significant elements from each phase surviving;

* the mid-C20 extensions provide a near complete picture of an interior of this period, including two enamel coal-fired kitchen ranges reflecting the ‘utility’ concept which are fairly unusual survivals of what would have been a relatively rare feature by this date.

Group value:

* it has group value with the nearby scheduled remains of the medieval village of Hackthorn.

History

Hackthorn is a small village about a mile and a half from the Roman road between Lincoln and Barton-upon-Humber. Washdyke Cottage is thought to have originated as a farmhouse in the early 1720s. This is very probable given that it has a lobby-entry plan form in which the front door leads into the entrance lobby, behind which are back-to-back fireplaces heating the two bays, with the stair positioned behind the chimney breast.

The first edition Ordnance Survey (OS) map of 1886 shows the farmhouse to have a rectangular plan with a large projection on the rear, north-west corner, a smaller projection in the centre of the rear elevation, and another on the north-east corner. The same footprint is depicted on the second edition OS map of 1906 but the farmhouse has been subdivided into two dwellings. A photograph taken around this date shows that the north-east corner projection was a single-storey outbuilding with a mono-pitch roof. It also shows that the central front door had been blocked up and a window positioned in the opening, and a front door added on the far right of the façade. An additional staircase was provided in the east bay during the conversion into two dwellings.

In the late 1940s two-storey red brick extensions were added at either end of the farmhouse. The OS map of 1974 shows that the central rear projection and that on the north-east corner were demolished to make way for these extensions.

Details

Former farmhouse dating to around the 1720s and subdivided in the late C19 or early C20.

MATERIALS: the farmhouse is constructed of limestone rubble laid to courses and the mid-C20 extensions of red brick laid in stretcher bond. The roof has a pantile covering.

PLAN: the building has a lobby entry plan consisting of a central entrance lobby behind which are back-to-back fireplaces heating the two bays, with the stair positioned behind the chimney breast. It is flanked by mid-C20 extensions and has a rear projection under a catslide roof which adjoins C20 single-storey outbuildings.

EXTERIOR: the two-storey former farmhouse has three bays under a pitched roof. A central, square chimney stack of beige brick with clay pots rises through the ridge. The first and second bays are lit on each floor by six-pane horizontal sliding sashes with timber lintels and sills, of probable C19 or early C20 date. The central door opening is blocked up and pierced by a twelve-pane timber window of similar date under the wider timber lintel that was formerly above the door. In the last bay a plank and batten door has been inserted with a cambered brick arch of headers, again of a similar date. To either side are mid-C20 red brick two-storey extensions of a single bay under pitched roofs with ridge stacks at the gable ends. These are lit on the ground floor by a twelve-pane casement window with metal glazing bars and concrete lintels and sills. The west extension also has a four-panel door under a concrete lintel. The return walls are lit on the first floor by casement windows, that on the west wall by two eight-light windows and that on the east by three six-light windows.

On the rear (north elevation) is a single-storey red brick outbuilding, probably added at the same time as the mid-C20 extensions, which has a flat roof and two plank and batten doors with strap hinges. This adjoins a stone projection under a catslide roof, lit by a sliding sash, which is likely to be part of the original outshut. Adjoining this to the right, against the west mid-C20 extension, is a red brick outbuilding under a mono-pitch roof which appears to be of C19 date and was retained when the later extension was built. It has a small sliding sash and a chimney stack in the north-west corner above the copper.

INTERIOR: in the former farmhouse the central chimneys are flanked by the east and west bays. The west bay has a substantial chamfered bridging beam and joists, and the floor is lined with red brick, as is the lobby. The wide fireplace opening has a segmental brick arch and brick jambs with a wooden mantelshelf supported by brackets, and a wide cupboard to the right. The opening contains a cast-iron range stamped with the manufacturer’s name ‘Duckering Lincoln’. This was probably added in the late C19 or early C20 when the farmhouse was subdivided, and it is likely that the two-panel doors and plank and batten doors date to this period as well. The winder staircase behind the fireplace is in its original position. In the east bay the bridging beam has been encased and a C20 fireplace has been inserted in the original fireplace opening. A copper to the right of this has been boarded over.

On the first floor of the east bay a substantial purlin is partially exposed. The west bay retains a small C19 cast iron grate with a round arch inset and a lime-ash floor laid over laths and reeds. The original floor coverings may also survive in the east bay but they have been carpeted over. The principal rafter roof is constructed of sawn timbers and is not original.

The stone-built outshut houses a larder with wooden shelves, and the C19 red brick outbuilding contains a brick copper with a lid, a deep ceramic sink, and a tiled floor.

The mid-C20 single-bay extensions retain doors with four horizontal panels and Bakelite knob handles, one small tiled bedroom fireplace surround, and floors laid with red square tiles throughout the ground floor. The rooms to the east and west both retain coal-fired enamel ranges which consist of an open grate with two different sized ovens on the same side which run at different temperatures. The flap in front of the fire basket can be lowered to allow greater radiant heat from the fire and the damper (the small circular feature in the grate door) can be rotated to control the draw of the fire and how much heat is generated. The ranges have a plain iron surround and a tiled hearth.

End of official list entry

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