Description

DARTINGTON
SX7862 - SX7962 WEEK
12/184 No 1 Lownard Cottage
9.2.61

GV II

House. C15 remodelled in C17 and C18, extended in C20. Whitewashed stone
rubble and cob. Thatched roof with gable end to right with projecting
gable end stack, and half-hipped end to left. rear lateral stack with
heightened rendered shaft. The thatch at the eaves is swept over the first
floor windows.
Plan: Original plan uncertain but it was probably 2 rooms as it is now
with the large 2-bay hall to the left and a smaller 1 bay lower end room to
the right. At least the right hand bay of the hall was open to the roof,
while the higher left hand bay may have always had a first floor chamber
(solar) because the first floor partition appears to be integral with the
truss; there is no evidence for there ever having been a partition below to
form an inner room. The lower right end of the house may also have been
open to the roof originally and a gable end stack and floor inserted in C17
certainly before the lower end of the hall was floored which was possibly
as late as the C18. The lateral stack at the back of the hall would have
been built at the same time as the hall was floored, the precise date is
uncertain because the fireplace is blocked and its lintel concealed. There
may have been a passage between the hall and the lower room; if so the
partition on the lower side has been removed; however there are opposing
front and rear doorways, but eh C15 rear doorframe is chamfered on the
inside only and if it is in situ this suggests it led to a stair turret
which is unlikely as the doorframe is C15 and the lower end was not floored
until the C17, and the lower end of the hall was floor even later. The
present staircase is situated behind the hall stack within a larger C20
outshut. There is an earlier lean-to at the lower end of the house which
now contains the kitchen.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical but regular 3 window front. C19 and
C20 2 and 3-light casements, some probably in old frames, and with timber
lintels. Blocked doorway to left of front probably originally a window,
and a raking masonry buttress to its right. Doorway to right of centre
with heavy chamfered lintel and probably early C19 plank door with wrought
iron hinges, and lean-to scantle slated canopy on wooden cantilevers.
The higher left hand end wall has a C15 first floor wooden window with ogee
trefoil headed lights; 2 lights above the transom and 4-lights below with
intermediate mullions; all chamfered and not rebated for glass; set in
opening with heavy chamfered timber lintel with run-out stops. To its left
also in the end wall a small 2-light C18 window.
Single storey lean-to on right hand lower gable end with slate roof. C20
lean-to outshuts at rear.
Interior: a 3-bay roof with 2 raised cruck trusses with slightly cambered
and morticed collars, diagonal ridge piece threaded purlins, and a hip
cruck at the lower right end on a wooden pad. The closed truss at the
higher left end has possibly an original timber frame partition on the
first storey supported on a heavy roughly chamfered (but not stopped)
ceiling beam which seems never to have had a roughly chamfered (but not
stopped) ceiling beam which seems never to have had a partition below.
Very large unchamfered joists support the first floor chamber over the
higher end of the hall. The lower end of the hall has inserted rough
joists. The lower end room has chamfered ceiling beams. The lower end
fireplace has a C20 wooden lintel and the hall's rear lateral fireplace has
been blocked with a C20 chimneypiece.
Opposite the front doorway a rear doorway with a probably C15 heavy wooden
pointed arch doorframe, chamfered on the inside only. On the first floor
some C18 2-panel doors.
Note: the former list description mentioned a "plaster shield of arms"
inside

Listing NGR: SX7820762184

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26505710

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

• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)