Description

BRIGHSTONE

1354/0/10018 WARNES LANE
03-AUG-09 Elmlea

II
Elmlea is a three-bay lobby-entrance plan cottage dating to the C18 or possibly earlier built of snecked clunch (vernacular hard chalk) blocks, local saltstone and brick, with a tile half-hipped roof; C20 timber casements.

EXTERIOR: The front (east) elevation is in coursed clunch block with a slightly offset entrance with C20 porch of concrete block and tile. There are two ground floor casement windows and two casement eyebrow dormer windows revealing tile hanging. The external plank doors are of early C20 date - one to the front elevation and a side door to the north elevation. The north gable end wall has an exposed queen post with brick stretcher bond infill; the bricks appear to be handmade in a mould and to date to before 1850. There is no other external timber framing to be seen. An early C20 extension with corrugated catslide roof has been added to the south end of the building and an outside toilet of similar date to the north end. The rear (west) wall is blind, and the clunch here is particularly well coursed.

INTERIOR: Internally the cottage is three-up/three-down. On the ground floor the lobby entrance plan is adhered to with a room either side of the central chimney stack and an additional room to the far north end, which is now the kitchen. Each of the other two ground floor rooms have a fireplace; one with an original wooden bressumer, the other a modern brick replacement for the earlier fireplace surround. There is a boxed in stair at the far south end of the cottage, with a plank door and steep staircase. There is another access to the first floor in the kitchen by means of a trap door formerly accessed by a ladder.

The spine beam which runs through each ground floor room is original, although strengthened by a later support in one of the rooms, as are most of the timber joists although those in the bathroom may have been re-used as they display unused mortices. Most internal doors are plank of the C19. The first floor rooms mirror the bays of the ground floor, and have inter-connecting doors. There is a blocked fireplace in the south end room and the central chimney stack forming part of the division between this and the next room. Purlins can be seen running through each of the first floor rooms. These are older than the rafters which can be seen extending from under the tile roof.

There are built-in cupboards around one of the fireplaces and a cupboard under the staircase. There is also wooden panelling forming a bathroom at the first floor north end of the cottage.

The early C20 corrugated roof extension at the south end of the building and the outside toilet at the north end are not of special interest.

HISTORY: Elmlea is shown on the 1862 Ordnance Survey map and is probably also on the 1810 first edition, although it is difficult to be certain because of the movement of field boundaries since the early C19. Photographs from 1978 show that the cottage roof was refurbished and the thatch replaced by tile some time after this date. Much of the cottage is built of clunch blocks. Clunch is a hard chalk local to the area and used in other buildings in the locality.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION:
Elmlea is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Elmlea is an C18 vernacular house that contains a significant proportion of its original fabric;
* The original plan form of the house survives and the history of its development can be traced in its fabric and fixtures;
* The attractive and locally distinctive clunch is constructed in a skilful and characterful fashion.

Reasons for Listing

Elmlea is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Elmlea is an C18 vernacular house that contains a significant proportion of its original fabric;
* The original plan form of the house survives and the history of its development can be traced in its fabric and fixtures;
* The attractive and locally distinctive clunch is constructed in a skilful and characterful fashion.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26672566

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 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper