Description

CULMSTOCK THE STRAND, Culmstock
ST 11 SW
10/66 Culm Cottage and The Bridge
-
GV II
2 adjoining cottages, one including a shop; formerly a single house. Late C16 -
early C17, maybe earlier in parts, some C17 improvements, thoroughly refurbished in
mid C19 when original house was divided into the present two cottages. Plastered
cob on stone rubble footings; stone rubble or cob stacks topped with C19 and C20
brick; thatch roof and slate to Culm Cottage extension.
Plan and development: 2 adjoining cottages in an L-plan building. The main block
faces north-east. It is parallel to the street but set back from it. A block
projects forward at right angles to the street front at the right (north-west) end.
CulLm Cottage occupies the centre and left end of the main block. It has a 2-room
plan with central entrance hall containing the stair. The small unheated inner left
room is now used as the kitchen. The larger right room has an axial stack backing
onto the adjoining cottage. There is a 1-room plan mid C19 extension to rear of the
left end with an outer lateral stack. The Bridge is a 3-room plan cottage. It
occupies the right end room of the main block which has an end stack and the 2
unheated rooms of the front block. The entrance to this cottage is through the shop
in the front room of the front block. Only Culm Cottage was available for
inspection at the time of this survey but it seems clear that the main block was
originally built as a 3-room-and-through-passage plan house. The larger heated room
in Culm Cottage seems to be the hall and was probably open to the roof in the late
C16 -early C17. It was floored over in the early or mid C17. The entrance hall and
stairs were inserted in the mid C19 into the former inner room. Thus, the main
block room of the Bridge occupies the site of the former passage and service end
room. The date of the front block is not known but it is thought to be earlier than
the mid C19. Both cottages are 2 storeys.
Exterior: main block has an irregular 3-window front of mid C19 casements with
glazing bars and margin panes; the first floor windows have flat thatch eyebrows
over. The left 2-window section (belonging to Culm Cottage) is symmetrical about
the central doorway which contains a C19 panelled door behind a C20 gabled porch.
The main block roof is half-hipped to left and hipped to right. The rear extension
of Culm Cottage contains horned 4-pane sashes. The front block contains C19 and
early C20 casements with glazing bars including the front end shop window. The
front block roof is half-hipped at the front.
Interior: only Culm Cottage was available for inspection at the time of this
survey. Although it appears to be largely the result of the mid C19 refurbishment
the original layout is preserved and late C16 - early C17 carpentry detail is
suspected behind the C19 plaster. In the former hall the fireplace is blocked.
Both rooms have unstopped beams with soffit-chamfers, an axial one across the left
room and entrance hall and crossbeam in the former hall. The roof over this part is
carried on 2 side-pegged jointed cruck trusses with cambered collars. The roofspace
is inaccessible and therefore it was not possible to ascertain whether or not the
roof timbers were smoke-blackened from an open hearth fire and therefore late
medieval in date. The main block part of the Bridge probably contains similar
carpentry detail.
This pair of cottages form part of an attractive group of listed buildings in the
vicinity of Culmstock Bridge (q.v). Furthermore these have had no modernisations
since the mid C19.

Listing NGR: ST1009513706

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26400304

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

• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)