Description

AWLISCOMBE COT GREEN
SY 10 SW

5/28 Cot Green Cottage
-

II

House. Late Medieval origins, remodelled and possibly extended in the late C16/early
C17, C19 addition at the left end, house repaired in the late 1960s. Whitewashed
rendered cob on stone rubble footings, some C19 brick to left end addition and rear
outshut; thatched roof with a plain ridge, half-hipped at ends, remains of front
right corner stack (shaft dismantled), left end stack with a rendered shaft.
Plan: South-facing and end on to the lane. The present arrangement is a 3 room and
through passage main range with an axial passage to the rear of the unheated centre
room with an external stair rising from the axial passage. A C19 lean-to addition
Rives a fourth room at the left end there is a rear right outshut. The evolution of
the plan is unusual, beginning with a 2-bay Medieval open hall house (the 2 left hand
rooms of the main range) rather than the more common 3-bay Medieval house extant in
Devon. Judging from a medieval doorframe in the partition between the 2 rooms the
open hall was divided into 2 by a low partition, the entrance presumably into the
room without the open hearth, probably the right hand room. The hall was floored in
the circa late C16/early C17 with a stack added at the left end, involving the
partial dismantling of the left end hip cruck; the stair was added in a rear
projection. The present through passage, at the right end of the Medieval house, may
also date from this period. In the C17 the right hand end of the house was either
added or remodelled from an existing single-storey building giving a conventional
unheated lower end room. The carpentry at this end of the house is all in elm
(information from the owners), the rest is oak. The rear outshut is partly C18,
partly earlier. The lower end room was subsequently heated by the addition of the
corner stack and a Victorian stair was added - these alterations could be associated
with the division of the house into 2 cottages. The date of the axial passage behind
the centre room is not clear. C20 repair has involved replacing the Victorian stair
and alterations to the first floor windows with a bay window added to the stair
projection.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 3 window south front, the thatch carried down as a
catslide porch on posts to the through passage, C20 half-glazed timber front door.
2- and 3-light C20 timber casements with 2-panes per light, the eaves thatch
eyebrowed over the first floor windows. C20 half-glazed timber door to the lean-to
at the left end.
Interior: Well-preserved, retaining C16 and C17 carpentry, old wall plaster and some
old floorboards. The through passage has a chamfered stopped half beam to the lower
side, exposed joists, a plain plank and muntin screen to the higher side with a
replaced sole plate and a C17 or earlier pegged doorframe to the rear door. The
unheated centre room exposed ceiling beams and a probably late medieval partition
with the left hand room: this consists of planks, formerly with wattle and daub
sections between and a massive shouldered doorframe exposed on the left hand (west)
side. The left hand room has a chamfered stopped crossbeam and a good open fireplace
with chamfered Beerstone ashlar jambs and a bread oven. The right hand room has a
deeply chamfered crossbeam with step stops and a blocked mullioned window, apparently
never glazed nor shuttered, into the outshut. Original oak treads and risers to the
stair.
Roof: The main truss of the Medieval roof survives: a side-pegged jointed cruck truss
with a diagonally set ridge and peaked collar mortised into the principals which are
mortised at the apex. The right hand (east) hip cruck is also intact with rafters
and a mortise in the ridge indicates the position of the former left end hip. The
timbers are heavily sooted. The roof over the right hand room is also of jointed
cruck construction but the carpentry detail is more rustic. A new roof has been
added over the old timbers.
A traditional house of Medieval origins with interior features and an historic plan
form. The original 2-bay open hall is of special interest.

Listing NGR: ST1300802507

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26499676

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5