Description

BRIDFORD HEATH LANE
SX 88 NW
2/51 Heath Cottage
GV II
House. Circa mid C17. Whitewashed, plastered cob and stone rubble; thatched roof,
gabled at ends; end stacks.
Plan: Unusual compact plan, a variant of the 2 room and through passage
arrangement: large kitchen/hall at the right with a stair in a projection on the
rear and a smaller, heated parlour to the left of the through passage with an
outshut to the rear. Access to the outshut from the passage via a small lobby
which also gives access to a very small service room adjacent to the passage and
taken out of the parlour. It is not clear whether the outshut is integral with the
main block.
Exterior: 2 storeys. The house has been turned round and the present entrance
elevation is the former rear elevation. Asymmetrical 2 window entrance elevation
with the thatch carried down as a catslide to the parlour outshut at the right and
swept across the door to the passage as a porch. Front door to passage with a
square-headed chamfered frame tucked in between the outshut and the shallow
rectangular projection of the kitchen/hall stair. Large projecting curing chamber
(unusual for the region) at left with a low arched opening at the base on the left
return, a blocked opening to the stack and a modern window inserted on the front.
1 ground floor 2-light C20 timber casement with glazing bars to the hall/kitchen;
first floor stair window with a square chamfered frame. The left return of the
block has a small chamfered mullioned 2-light window to the first floor. The rear
elevation, formerly the front, has 4 windows; C20 timber casements with glazing
bars; and a plank door to the passage. 2 bee holes flank ground floor window left.
Interior: The passage/parlour end partition is partly made up of wide horizontal
planks with C18 graffiti. The hall/kitchen has chamfered stopped crossbeams, an
open fireplace with granite jambs, a roughly chamfered lintel and Cl9 brick-lined
bread oven. C18 plank door to stair which has granite treads. The parlour has an
open fireplace with ovolo-moulded timber lintel; 2 chamfered C17 first floor
doorframes, one stopped.
Roof: Apex not inspected at time of survey (1986) but principal rafters visible
upstairs appear to be straight.
An attractive traditional house with an unusual plan form.

Listing NGR: SX8172488190

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26604344

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

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  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
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  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey