Summary

C18 house with mid-to late-C20 and early-C21 additions. The C20 and C21 additions are excluded from the List entry.

Description

C18 house with mid-to late C20 and early C21 additions. The C20 and C21 additions are excluded from the List entry.

MATERIALS: built of coursed blue lias rubble stone with brick dressings and a plain, clay-tile gabled roof. It has a brick end stack.

PLAN: a single-depth, originally two-unit plan with an external chimney stack to the south end, to the right of which is a small projection.

EXTERIOR: the two-storey principal (west) elevation has a blocked central entrance, flanked by pairs of C20 four-light casement windows. Those to the ground floor are set beneath segmental brick heads. The side (south) elevation has an external gable-end stack. To the right is a single-storey, gabled projection, with a small door to the timber-planked gable. The rear (east) elevation has a two window range to each floor, comprising pairs of four-light casements, those to the ground floor are beneath segmental brick heads. The ground-floor window to the right has been reduced in size to form a single four-light casement window.

INTERIOR: the original side (north) wall of the C18 part of the house has had an opening inserted at ground and first floor level to provide access between the C18 phase of the building and the mid-C20 addition. To the ground floor of the C18 part of the house is the living room, with a brick fireplace and bread oven to the south end. The chamfered ceiling beam at this end has run-out stops. There are two further chamfered ceiling beams; that to the north end has mortice holes. The central doorway, which formed the principal entrance, has been blocked, and the partition wall and staircase have been removed. To the first floor the roof purlins are exposed.

Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the following are not of special architectural or historic interest:

* The C21 single-storey, flat-roofed porch to the south elevation.
* The C21 gabled, single-storey extension to the east elevation.
* The mid-C20, two-storey, gabled cross-wing to the north elevation of the C18 house.
* The C21 two-storey, gabled extension to the north elevation of the mid-C20 cross wing.

History

Walnut Tree Cottage appears to have been built in the C18 as a two-storey, two-unit house, with a gable-end stack and small projection at the south end. The central entrance provided access to the heated room at the south end, and to the immediate left of this entrance was a staircase. The house is depicted on the first (1886) edition Ordnance Survey map as this rectangular building. On this and subsequent editions of the historic OS maps are various small additions to the rear (east) elevation, which have since been demolished. The building was extended in the mid-C20 to include a two-storey cross wing to the side (north) elevation, to which an additional two-storey range has been added. There are further early C21 single-storey extensions to the side (south) elevation of the mid-C20 cross wing.

Reasons for Listing

Walnut Tree Cottage, an C18 vernacular dwelling, is Listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural interest: a good example of an C18 vernacular cottage employing characteristic local building materials;
* Intactness: despite some alteration the building retains a good proportion of its historic fabric including its original wall construction and chamfered ceiling beams.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26662735

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

• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)