Description

IDEFORD OLCHARD LANE
SX 87 NE
4/98 Well Cottage

- II

House. Mid/late C17 with a 1980s addition at the right end and a single-storey rear
left lean-to, possibly C19. Colourwashed rendered stone, the end walls cob above
first floor level; wheat straw thatched roof to main range, half-hipped at ends; 2
rear lateral stacks, the stack heating the left room internal with a stone shaft, the
stack heating the right hand room of the main range projecting with a tall brick
shaft, the bricks possibly late C17. The 1980s right end addition is single-storey
and thatched with reed.
An interesting plan: single depth, 2 rooms wide and 2 storeys with attic. The left
hand room is slightly smaller than the right hand room, which has enriched detail and
may have been the original kitchen, the right hand room being the parlour. The
original entrance appears to have been on the front wall between the 2 rooms,
opposite the dogleg stair which is largely contained within an internal turret. This
arrangement creates an open-sided lobby between the front door and the stair. A
first floor landing gives access to the 2 first floor rooms, similar arrangement on
the second floor. At one time the house was divided into 2 and a C19 stair was
inserted against the right end wall, the top flight of this stair - into the second
storey - has been removed. A single-storey rear left lean-to may date from the
subdivision of the house, providing a service room to the left half of the house.
The position of the present front door, at the extreme right hand of the main range
is probably also dateable to the divison of the house. Single-storey 1980s kitchen
addition at the right end.
2 storeys and attic. Asymmetrical 4-window front with regular fenestration and the
eaves thatch eyebrowed over 2 attic dormers with 2-light casements, 3 panes per
light. C20 gabled porch with slate roof on front at extreme right; 15-pane fixed
window in position of former doorway to left of centre; fixed window flanked by 2-
light casements, 4 panes per light, lengthened in the late C20. 4 first floor 2-
light casements, 3 panes per light.
Interior: Several features of interest. The right hand room of the main range,
probably the C17 parlour, has an ovolo-moulded cross beam with elaborate stops:
jewelled with a hollow step. The remains of a plaster cornice survive in the parlour
which has a rebuilt fireplace. The fireplace of the left hand room has also been
rebuilt; it is in the angle of the rear wall and left end wall and may have been re-
sited from a rear lateral position when the service room was built abutting the rear
wall. The stair is enclosed in a framed partition turret with a plank door and
moulded doorframe, the heavy timber treads and risers are consistent with a late C17
date. First floor room right has a chamfered cross beam with a scroll stop and a
fireplace with a replaced timber lintel. The attic storey has collar rafter roof
trusses mortised at the apex, the pegged halved collars have been replaced. The C19
stair adjacent to the right gable end wall has stick balusters.
The plan form of this house is particularly interesting being transitional between
the cross or through passage plan type and plan types which tie the main entrance
more closely to the stair and circulation into rooms of specialized function.
Equally interesting is the use of a 2 room plan with an attic storey suggesting a
change in fashion from the longer, lower houses of the earlier C17.

Listing NGR: SX8782477111

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26618931

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

• 
  For the Record
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)