Description

EASTLEACH

1373/0/10004 FYFIELD
21-AUG-08 HONEYSUCKLE COTTAGE

GV II

Honeysuckle Cottage is a detached cottage, formerly a mirror pair of workers' cottages, dating from the late C17 or early C18.

MATERIALS: The building is constructed from limestone rubble brought to course, set under a Cotswold stone slate roof, with later rubble stone stacks.

PLAN: The plan shows a pair of cottages of one-and-a-half rooms, with large back-to-back fireplaces and winder stairs alongside in the main living room, and a smaller pantry to the north; there is a small lean-to extension to the west.

EXTERIOR: The building is of a single storey and attic, with a steeply-pitched roof and central stack. The main elevation, to the south, has two square timber casements of the late C19 or early C20 to each former cottage, under soldier courses of upright stone. The C20 entrance doorway is situated within the lean-to extension. The rear elevation, facing the road, has a modern entrance doorway set off-centre, and there are single windows to left and right. The eastern gable end has small windows to the ground floor, one each lighting the former living room and pantry, with a larger window in the gable above to light the attic room. There is a similar window in the western gable end.

INTERIOR: The interiors each have a large fireplace with shallow segmental arched opening, adjacent to which is a stone-built winder stair rising to the attic room, behind a plank-and-batten door. The pantry of the western cottage has been slightly remodelled to create an entrance lobby and bathroom, and that to the eastern cottage has been incorporated into the main room, though the wall stubs are in place. The attic rooms have wide wooden floorboards and show the only visible evidence of the roof structure, in the form of roughly-hewn twin purlins.

HISTORY: Honeysuckle Cottage originated in the late C17 or early C18 as a mirror pair of workers' cottages, on a one-and-a-half room plan, with main living room to the south and a small rear pantry at the north; the first floor room of each was entirely contained within the roof space, and lit through the gable end. The building was probably associated with the nearby farm to the north, and formed part of a small group of houses and cottages which includes Walnut Tree Cottage immediately to the south, and the group of cottages known as Fyfield Cottages, to the north of Honeysuckle Cottage, all of which date from the C17. The cottages were recorded on the tithe map of 1840. At some point between 1840 and circa 1882, when the first edition of the Ordnance Survey was published for this area, the cottages appear to have been converted to a single dwelling, with the addition of a small lean-to extension to the west, which now houses the kitchen. The building has remained largely unaltered since this period.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION:
Honeysuckle Cottage is designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* The building is a well-preserved example of a mirror pair of small workers' cottages of the late C17 or early C18
* The original plan form of these one-and-a-half roomed cottages is largely intact, and clearly legible
* The conversion to a single dwelling has left the two cottages essentially intact, each retaining its large fireplace, stone-built winder stair and attic room
* Such cottages, occupied by the poorest in their communities, are not usually as well built as this example, and are increasingly rare survivals, particularly in such unaltered condition
* Group value with the nearby Walnut Tree Cottage (also recommended for listing), and 1 and 2 Fyfield Cottages (listed Grade II), which are situated in the same cluster of houses
SP2040403878

Reasons for Listing

Honeysuckle Cottage is designated for listing in Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* The building is a well-preserved example of a mirror pair of small workers' cottages of the late C17 or early C18
* The original plan form of these one-and-a-half roomed cottages is largely intact, and clearly legible
* The conversion to a single dwelling has left the two cottages essentially intact, each retaining its large fireplace, stone-built winder stair and attic room
* Such cottages, occupied by the poorest in their communities, are not usually as well built as this example, and are increasingly rare survivals, particularly in such unaltered condition
* Group value with the nearby Walnut Tree Cottage (also recommended for listing), and 1 and 2 Fyfield Cottages (listed Grade II), which are situated in the same cluster of houses

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26671926

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

• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)