Description

SY 08 NW WOODBURY CHURCH STILE LANE, Woodbury

2/92 Nos. 1-3 Church Stile Cottages
11.11.52 (formerly listed as Church Stile)

- II

3 cottages, originally a farmhouse. Early C16 with later alterations. Roughcast
cob on stone footings; half-hipped thatched roof. Formerly a 3-room through-
passage plan house, originally open to the roof which is sooted, the higher end to
the right of the passage, with a rear parlour wing, extended in the C16 or early
C17. The service-end and the passage have been demolished. The hall was later
heated by an inserted and now dismantled external front lateral stack; the inner
room was unheated, and the parlour wing provided with an end stack. This stack
became internal and axial when the wing was extended (the extension now occupied
separately as Nos.2 and 3); a large external end stack heats no.3. 2 storeys.
Front: (facing south) - this is all that remains of the main range; one 2-light 1st
floor casement window under eyebrow eave; ground floor with door to extreme left;
remains of external stack with tiny window; 2 C20 casement windows to the right.
Right-hand elevation (facing Church Stile Lane, east): gable end of main range with
panelled door under rectangular fanlight with tiny window to right; 2-light
casement window to 1st floor. The parlour wing and cottages form a 4-window range;
2- and 3-light casement windows to 1st floor, lintels at eaves level; three 2-light
windows to ground floor, and a door to No.2. A slight projection at the extreme
right-hand end, which stands forward of the stack, probably marks a former smoking
chamber. External end stack with large bake-oven bulge.
Rear: of wing with one C19 casement window and 2 smaller (and older) windows,
lintels at eaves level. Modern doors.
Interior: hall with chamfered axial ceiling beam, with scroll stops; front
fireplace lintel, stone, massive and without detailing; late C17 panelling, re-used
to hall side of stud wall that divides hall from inner room; parlour wing which is
divided from inner room by rough timberwork wall, has remains of chamfered brick
fire back (to former end stack). Roof of hall and inner room smoke-blackened
throughout; one jointed cruck visible, apex morticed and pegged with diagonal ridge
piece; purlins; battening and thatch all sooted, with heavily sooted wattling under
thatch at east (right-hand) end, perhaps the remains of a smoke bay. No.2 (now a
single-room cottage), with end fireplace with roughly chamfered lintel, backing
onto the former end fireplace described above, set to the left of a blocked window.
4 chamfered cross ceiling beams, with rough stops and contemporary joists; windows
with original lintels; lath and plaster partition between Nos. 2 and 3, morticed
into jointed cruck, the latter much modified when roof raised; remains of another
jointed cruck, much altered. No.3 with 3 roughly chamfered ceiling beams similar
to those in no.2. One jointed cruck close to the end stack, morticed and pegged at
apex, evidence of dovetailed collar (now removed), with purlins backing onto
principals. This end of the roof is also quite heavily smoke-blackened. Whether
or not this represents a former open-hall type extension to the original house, or
seepage from the stack is difficult to determine; stack, with newel to left-hand
side (viewed internally), the door with C17 H-hinges, and large smoking-chamber to
right.

Listing NGR: SY0092087225

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26398158

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

• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)