Description

CHRISTOW CHRISTOW
SX 88 NW
2/95 Waterwell and Waterwell Cottage
II

House and adjoining cottage. Circa early C16, remodelled in the early C17, thorough
late C20 renovations and alterations. Whitewashed rendered cob and stone rubble ;
thatched roof, gabled at ends ; left end stack, axial stack and rear lateral stack to
Waterwell, rear right stack to Waterwell Cottage.
Plan: Waterwell, to the left (south-east) is a 3 room and through passage plan
arrangement, (although details suggest the plan has been altered) lower end to the
right, hall stack backing on to passage, with a later rear outshut which rises as a
small late C20 2-storey wing at right angles to the inner room to the right. The
inner room is larger than the hall ; the lower end is heated but the rear lateral
stack has either been rebuilt or is a C20 addition. The origins of the house are a
later medieval open hall house, apparently open from end to end of Waterwell (sooted
trusses throughout the length of the roof), probably floored in the circa early C17.
Waterwell Cottage, adjoining at the right, also has a sooted roof and sooted hip
cruck but appears to have been divided from the main block of the house by a thick
crosswall : there is some evidence of charring of the rafters and the sooting could
be the result of an accidental fire. The right end of Waterwell Cottage is a
converted 2-storey outbuilding.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Long asymmetrical 4 + 1 window front (the one window to
Waterwell Cottage) the 5 first floor windows gabled dormers. C20 glazed front doors
to both house and cottage, the door to Waterwell to right of centre leading into the
through passage ; the front door to the cottage with a C20 thatched gabled porch
canopy ; 5 first floor small-pane 3-light timber casements ; 3 similar ground floor
windows to Waterwell ; 2-light timber casements with glazing bars flank the door to
Waterwell Cottage. The right return of the cottage has a flight of external stone
steps up to a first floor C20 glazed door; fire insurance sign on right gable end.
Interior: Largely modernized but retaining interesting features : Waterwell has
exposed joists to the passage and a plank and muntin screen with chamfered stopped
joists on the passage side of the passage/lower end partition. The hall and inner
room have chamfered stopped crossbeams and are divided by the remains of a plank and
muntin screen with a doorway with a shouldered lintel. Inner room fireplace with a
timber lintel and granite jambs ; timber lintel to hall fireplace ; lower end
fireplace rebuilt. Interior of Waterwell Cottage modernized.
Roof: Not thoroughly inspected at time of survey (1987) but a section of medieval
roof, (below later timbers) complete with thatch, battens and rafters survives over
approximately half the inner room of Waterwell with an infilled side-pegged jointed
cruck truss over the hall (apex not inspected); and 2 more sooted trusses with
rafters survive over the passage and lower end. A thick cob cross wall divides
Waterwell and Waterwell Cottage although it does not rise to the apex; sooted
rafters, battens and a hip cruck - with some evidence of charred battens - over the
left end of Waterwell Cottage. The roof over the former barn is probably C19.

Listing NGR: SX8370785038

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26390033

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

• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)