Old Brewery Cottage, Netheravon, Wiltshire

Summary

House, late C18. Extended and altered to two cottages in the mid- to late C19, and reverted to single dwelling in 1963. Minor late-C20 alterations and rear additions of the mid- and late C20.

Description

House, late C18. Extended and altered to two cottages in the mid- to late C19, and reverted to single dwelling in 1963. Minor late-C20 alterations and rear additions of the mid- and late C20.

MATERIALS
It is constructed of red brick and stone rubble, mostly rendered since the mid-C20, under a combed reed thatched roof. There is a brick stack to the south gable end and one to the rear, below the ridge.

PLAN
The original, three-bay cottage is rectangular on plan. It has an integral outshut to the rear which previously extended along the length of the building, though only the south third is extant. C20 extensions to the rear have created an L-shaped footprint to the building.

EXTERIOR
The main (west) elevation is a four-window range of two phases of construction, comprising the original three-bay house and a C19 addition of one bay at its north end. There is a plinth of painted dressed stone rubble or flint, and brick to the northernmost bay, and this has evidence for possible former openings. There is also a plat band to the original house. There are metal wall ties or anchors and the roof is half-hipped at its north end. The windows are late-C20 timber casements of three lights. The segmental-headed main entrance has a six-panel door with glazing to the top panels and there is a casement window on either side. The C19 bay to the north has a matching casement and a timber plank door under a flat arch. There are four first-floor windows under eyebrow dormers. The south gable wall has a rendered raking buttress to its lower half and, to the far right, is a modern two-light casement at ground-floor level. The north gable wall is rendered and has no openings. The rear elevation is largely obscured by later single-storey extensions, except for the outshut under a deep catslide roof to the left-hand end. This has a modern timber stable door, a single glazed window, and a buttress. To the right of the outshut is a flat-roofed addition (store) of the mid-C20, a late-C20 conservatory and a further flat-roofed extension. At first-floor level, within the thatch, is a two-light casement.

INTERIOR
The main entrance door opens onto a stair hall or central room that was historically reduced in size. The door to the under-stair cupboard has reused C18 strap hinges and a rough ventilation hole cut in it. The room to the right of the hall has been enlarged as evinced by the scarf joint in the two lengths of ceiling beam. Also, the original beam terminates short of the partition wall with the hall and the exposed joists in this area are sawn and straighter than those in the rest of the room. The left-hand principal room has a fireplace with a modern inserted chimneypiece and an axial, chamfered ceiling beam with stepped stops. There is a recess to the left of the chimney breast which has a reused timber lintel. The ground-floor room at the north end of the cottage has an axial ceiling beam, but there is no fireplace. A later, inserted doorway in the rear wall leads to the rear extension. The outshut to the rear has been remodelled, but a length of C18 stud wall with lath infill panels is visible in the attic space. A straight flight of stairs leads to the first-floor rooms. Much of the joinery is C19, including four-panel doors and architrave. The C18 roof timbers remain and include a truss with a side-lapped collar and clasped purlins and pole rafters. Modern sawn rafters and purlins braced with raking struts have been added to reinforce the roof structure.

Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the late-C20 single-storey rear extensions to Old Brewery Cottage and Stable Cottage to the north-east are not of special architectural or historic interest and are excluded from the listing.

History

The medieval settlement of Netheravon was probably situated close to All Saints’ Church and moved northwards over the centuries, and it is likely that the High Street was built up in the C18. Old Brewery Cottage, formerly Brewery Cottage, stands on the east side of this road. It dates from the later C18 and is depicted with a rectangular footprint and orientated north to south on an Enclosure Award map of 1790. It appears to have originally comprised three ground-floor rooms, including an unheated central room or passage which was subsequently made narrower when the southern principal room was enlarged. To the rear was a single-storey outshut. During the second half of the C19 the building was bought by TW Hussey and Son, the company which owned Netheravon Brewery situated immediately to the north and north-east of the cottage. Around this time an extension was added at the north end of Old Brewery Cottage, possibly on the footprint of an existing attached structure depicted on a late-C18 map, and the interior was reconfigured and the building was subdivided to form two dwellings for employees of the brewery. In 1913 Netheravon Brewery was bought purchased by Strong & Co of Romsey Ltd, although Old Brewery Cottage was not sold and it remained two dwellings until the mid-C20. In the 1970s a rear extension was added and part of the cottage was used as a doctor’s surgery for the next decade. It has since reverted to a private dwelling.

Reasons for Listing

Old Brewery Cottage, a late-C18 dwelling extended and altered into two cottages in the later C19, and reverted to a single dwelling in the mid-C20, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* a good survival of a modest vernacular building dating from the late C18, a period at which most buildings are listed;
* it retains evidence for historic alteration and extension which demonstrate clearly the evolution and history of the building;
* the extensions to the rear do not encroach on the plan form of the earliest parts of the house or detract significantly from the special interest.

Group value:
* Old Brewery Cottage has group value with Flint House and Ivy Cottage, both listed at Grade II, and makes a strong contribution to the conservation area.

External Links

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