The Old Thatched Cottage, Horndean, Hampshire

Summary

House, probably C16, modified in the later C16 or C17, extended to the north in the C20.

Description

House, probably C16, modified in the later C16 or C17, extended to the north in the C20.

MATERIALS: timber framed with later cladding or replacement in flint rubble and brick, now painted, beneath a thatched roof. The front elevation of the three historic bays is in flint rubble with brick dressings. The later, northern bay is in brick. The ground floor of the south gable wall is also in flint rubble with brick dressings; the upper floor is in brick, with the raking struts exposed. The rear wall is principally in brick with areas of flint. Evidence of weathering on the timber frame suggest that elements of the early building may have been exposed to the weather or were perhaps reused from an previous structure.

PLAN: a lobby entry plan in three bays, facing east, originally with a hipped roof to the north and south. This arrangement was inserted into an existing building, probably with an open hall. The stack was built in the second bay, but with the principal opening serving the third bay, and has four flues. There is a newel stair to the rear of the stack, entered from the third bay, and a second winder stair at the south-west corner of the second bay. There is a cellar beneath the southernmost bay. According to historic photos, the fourth, northern bay was a single-storey lean-to structure; an upper storey, with a hipped roof, was added in the 1970s.

EXTERIOR: the entrance is beneath a C20 thatched porch, the door is panelled below a glazed upper section of two-over-three lights. Windows are C21 two-light casements in earlier openings which have brick quoins and flat brick arches. Eyebrow dormers are of two lights, the left hand window being shallower in height. The right-hand bay has a cambered arched ground-floor window and full dormer window. There is a short, brick axial stack. The south gable wall has a first floor two-light casement within a shaped surround, with exposed raking struts to each side; the bargeboards are similarly moulded. The rear of the house is a mix of brick and flint and has full dormers with tile cheeks and roofs. Above the rear entrance, in the second bay from the south, is a small projecting bay with a canted window, tile hung cheeks and apron; now supported on shafts from below, historic photos show that the bay was previously unsupported. The door below is of six panels, the upper panels now glazed. In the south-west angle of the building is a probably C19 or early C20 brick stack. The rear wall of the northernmost bay has been removed, opening onto a C20 conservatory. The north wall has C20 windows, on the ground floor possibly in earlier openings.

INTERIOR: on the ground floor the inner transverse wall of the southern bay has a timber cill, a chamfered rail on the southern face, a substantial central post and is mostly of full height panels. The studs and posts have irregularly placed mortises suggesting previous fixings or reuse. Joists in this and the next room are later replacements.

The brick stack is mainly of narrow red, brown and grey bricks c 1½ inches/4cm deep, but with rebuilt piers, and with an oven to the west and behind it a newel stair. The axial beam embedded in the stack has a two-inch chamfer with run-out stops. It appears that the upper floor was inserted when the stack was built. The central post in the north wall is a substantial half section of tree retaining its bark on the northern face, particularly at first-floor level. The frame is of small panels, with straight braces; joints are numbered on the northern face, where it shows little sign of weathering, suggesting it was internal or at least covered. The lower section of the north-west post shows signs of burning.

The passage opposite the front door is lined in panelled wainscotting; the floor has red and black tiles.

The wall plates and upper parts of the timber frame above the inserted floors, are visible on the upper floor. The southern two bays have substantial tie beams; those on the eastern side of the house have steep arched braces; to the west the braces have been removed to allow access to the upper floor rooms. On the south wall the tie beam has peg holes, probably for former braces, and the inner face is very worn. There is reused timber in the northern truss of the original building.

The house has a side purlin roof with coupled rafters, pegged at the apex, some with a short collar below the apex. The wall plate of the former north wall, now internal, has seatings for rafters of a hipped roof. There is extensive evidence of blackened and scorched timbers suggestive of a previous fire rather than purely of accumulated soot commonly associated with an open hall. Above the second truss is a section of a wattle and daub panel. In the northern bays, purlins have been replaced with rounded timbers, thought to be reused spars, installed in the 1970s.

The cellar is of brick and flint with brick steps. The floor, originally brick laid on the earth, has C21 tiles.

Later additions, notably the single-storey conservatory, do not contribute to the special interest of the building.

History

The Old Thatched Cottage, which appears to date from the C16, stands within the scattered historic community of Lovedean. There are isolated C16 or C17 houses adjacent to it (both listed at Grade II). Although there are no surviving farm buildings associated with it, it is likely that it was a yeoman's house or farmstead. In plan it resembles other houses in the Petersfield area, its construction illustrating changes in building practice from the C16 to C17 when the chimney stack was inserted into an existing building and it acquired its current arrangement as a lobby entry plan house with an upper floor.

Ordnance Survey maps from 1868 onwards mark a building with a similar, rectangular footprint, with a small extension to the northeast shown on the 1868 and 1897 maps. In 1868 there was a smaller rectangular building to the southwest of it.

Photographs taken during the First World War, when it was occupied by Beatrice Cleeve, a VAD nurse working in Waterlooville, suggest that the house has changed little since that time.

Reasons for Listing

The Old Thatched Cottage, probably of C16 date, modified in the later C16 or C17, extended to the north in the C20, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Architectural interest: a substantial timber frame showing structural evolution and development in technique from at least the C16 to C17;
* Plan: adaptation of the earlier building to create a lobby entry plan house with an inserted stack and stair, possibly adapted later to create smaller tenancies;
* Historic interest: one of a group of scattered C17 and earlier houses in Lovedean, that contribute to its historic development.

External Links

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