Summary
An early C18 former weaver's cottage with C19 additions and interior fittings.
Description
A cottage of early C18 date, extended in the later C18 and with mid-late C19 and C20 additions and alterations.
MATERIALS: constructed of coursed Cotswold limestone rubble with dressed limestone window mullions, cills, architraves and hood moulds, and door hood. There are Cotswold stone slates and chimneystacks to the roof. The roof structures are of various timber species including pine, elm, ash and alder. There are timber fittings and flagstones to most of the ground floor, and elm and pine floorboards to other areas. The attached washhouse has a concrete floor and the rear outshut has other modern interventions.
PLAN: built on a south-west/ north-east orientation, the cottage has a two-room, single-depth plan and is of two storeys. Attached to the north is a full-height, in-line end bay with a single-storey wash house block forming an L-plan. To the rear of the cottage is a single-storey C20 outshut.
EXTERIOR: the principal (south-west) elevation is of three bays with an additional bay and projecting outshut to the left. The ground floor has two-light, six-pane casements with mullions under hood moulds to either side of a central entrance with pediment hood. The hood is supported by console brackets that are engaged in the window moulds. The brackets are supported by inserted limestone blocks that form piers either side of the entrance. The stone door jambs and head are chamfered. The window hood moulds have label stops to their outer ends. To the first floor are three mullioned casements, the central opening is blocked with stone sheets. To the left is a former wash house outshut. The chamfered door head is a reused C18 window lintel and to its left is a window with chamfered surround. The outshut has a lean-to roof forming a catslide with the cottage roof and the south-west elevation is set into the bank of the garden.
The south-east gable end of the cottage has a stone plinth and traces of former openings. To the right is the C20 outshut with two window openings. The outshut extends across the north-east rear elevation of the cottage and has reordered openings. The leant-to roof continues the pitch of the main roof in a catslide arrangement. To the right is the entrance to the later C18 north end stable. It is laid out as a single room open to the roof, and is partly lofted. The large limestone blocks to the doorway have rebates and boltholes for a former gate. There are apotropaic marks (including an ‘M’, and ‘W’) to the jambs. The plank door has iron fitments. The north gable end has a blocked opening under a timber lintel to the ground floor and a window to the first floor. To the right corner, at the junction with the wash house, is a projecting stone buttress. The north elevation of the wash house has a tall single-light window in a chamfered opening.
There are two stone stacks to the ridge of the main range. The north stack appears to be of C18 date and has two offsets. The south stack is rebuilt.
INTERIOR: the ground-floor vestibule has C20 panelling and a room to each side. The south room has an early-C20 fireplace and a window seat. The door to the rear outshut is chamfered to the outer face. The rear outshut has no historic fittings. The north room has a window seat, mid-C19 fireplace, four-panel door and staircase. A cupboard below the stair has a C18 door and frame. To the first floor is an inserted C19 partition wall and a front wall cupboard that encloses the blocked middle window. The south room has a mid-C19 fireplace. The north room has a cupboard enclosing a blocked window to the north end stable. The roof structure has two trusses with bolted collars, unworked purlins and ridge piece, and other secondary timbers, all of various species, many with remains of whitewash. The floor of the loft is laid with alder branches. The south gable is plastered and has a blocked window. At the north end is a truncated stone chimney flue. Throughout the cottage are mid-C19 fittings and other joinery including braced plank doors and skirting boards. The window seats to each room are of unknown date.
The storeroom/ stable addition has a timber stall and loft, and flagstone floor. There is a sealed window with timber lintel in the wall to the wash house and a manger is attached to the opposite corner, above which a first-floor window to the attached cottage is plastered over. The roof structure is mainly constructed of machine-sawn timber, and the walls are partly whitewashed. The interior of the wash house has whitewashed walls with a sealed opening to the stable. The roof structure is smoke blackened with a mixture of C19 and C20 timbers; some reused.
History
Parkfield most probably originated as an early C18 weaver’s cottage. The first floor was initially laid out as a single room, open to a roof of whitewashed timbers and well-lit by five windows. The generous natural lighting in this south-west-facing room would have helped the resident weaver work the loom effectively. The configuration of the ground floor at this time is unclear although it is likely to have been in domestic use, and the current two-room arrangement may date to the mid-C19. The building was extended to the north by one full-height bay later in the C18, which was later used for storage and stabling. The former weaving room in the main dwelling was converted to domestic use by the C19 when it was ceiled over and a partition wall was inserted to provide two rooms. Three of the five original windows were blocked during the extension and conversion.
The tithe map of 1842 shows the building with a wing extending from the east corner to form an L plan. By the Ordnance Survey Map of 1882, the wing had been taken down and a wash house built to the opposite corner. Boundary walls, retaining walls, and small structures are marked on the map. Stone walls and retaining walls line the paddock and gardens around the cottage. One wall extends from the wash house to describe a footpath to the front gate, which has two plain stone gateposts. The walls have various areas of rebuilding and collapse. An unmarked feature to the south of the dwelling is probably the well that is identified on the 1902 map, and which still stands next to the cottage in 2021. In the mid-C19 the cottage was refitted with new stairs, fireplaces and other fittings. The north end bay appears to have been used as a stable, probably for donkeys, which were commonly used to carry goods via the nearby stonewalled paths.
By the time of the Ordnance Survey Map of 1922 a new kitchen/ bathroom outshut had been built along most of the rear elevation. The outshut was partly rebuilt in the mid-C20. The cottage has had some updating in the later C20, mainly to the rear outshut. In 2021 the building stands vacant.
Reasons for Listing
Parkfield, an early C18 cottage, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as a well-constructed and legible example of a former weaver’s dwelling of C18 date; built and adapted using the vernacular traditions of the area, it retains a high proportion of historic fabric;
* it is remarkably well-preserved as an evolved historic cottage with a later C18 stable bay and C19 additions, retaining evidence of the primary phase of use with a whitewashed pegged roof structure and blocked first-floor openings;
* the relatively complete set of C19 fittings including fireplaces, staircase, casement windows and other joinery, including a reused C18 cupboard, is an unusual survival;
* architectural detailing such as the carved door hood and other stone dressings provide modest but notable enrichments that add to the character of the cottage;
* the C20 alterations are principally limited to the rear outshut, which has been partly rebuilt and updated without detracting significantly from the interest of the historic parts of the building.
Historic interest:
* the built fabric demonstrates the former weaving activity that took place in the first floor of the building, a key industry in the area before a period of decline in the C19;
* the attached stable illustrates the historic multiple uses of dwellings with smallholdings in this region.
External Links
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
Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
[(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)