History
Vernacular house most likely built as two separate units in two main phases in the C17 and C18. The name of the property is thought to derive from the natural cave in the cliff on which the house stands. In 1840 at the parish Tithe survey this was a house and weavers shop belonging to Thomas Hughes, and it is possible that the lower (left hand) unit was used as a workshop associated with a dwelling in the upper unit. The right-hand unit is the earliest: timber-framed with possible cruck in upper gable end, and evidence that the roof has been raised. The lower unit, which is in stone, is a later addition, probably C18. It is uncertain when openings were first made to join the two units into a single house. From 1983 the house was the home of Jerry Lordan (1934-1995), the Ivor Novello-award winning singer and songwriter whose best-known song is ‘Apache’.
Exterior
House comprising two one-and-a-half storey units, terraced, but on slightly different levels due to sloping site, with the right-hand unit about half a storey higher up than the left. The earlier right-hand unit has irregular timber-framed front elevation with painted brick infill to the front, rubble stone gable and rear walls. Lower unit is whitewashed rubble throughout. Both have slate roofs (that to right-hand unit laid in diminishing courses). The two units have opposing gable stone chimney stacks.
The right cottage has its chimney on the right and a central cat-slide dormer window at the front and the back. At the front the dormer is directly above ground floor living room window with a modern doorway to the right-hand, perhaps reinstating original entrance which had apparently been blocked for a time but was reopened in the 1980s. A covered passage connects gable end to a modern extension. At the rear is a modern slate awning with timber posts over the patio door and window.
The left unit has entrance in gabled porch to the right, timber framed with slate roof. Casement window to left, with low window just below the eaves above. Blind left side gable has two large reinforcing buttresses added in 1985 with slate and timber storage sheds between and beside them. Rear outshut appears to be original, but its small gabled extension is modern.
Windows throughout are sympathetic modern small-paned timber casements probably in original openings, and similarly doors are modern but sympathetic to the vernacular character.
Interior
The two units have been combined internally into a single residence with an eccentric layout due to the difference in levels between the pair. The right cottage contains a living room at ground level with a bedroom above and the principal staircase, while the left has the kitchen at ground level and a bedroom above. Original timberwork is evident throughout.
Living room contains gable end rubble stone fireplace with very larger timber bressummer. A narrow stairway with panelled timber screen opposite the fireplace connects the living room to both bedrooms. The structural timber framing of the original gable wall of the upper unit is exposed above and below this stairway. Large spine beam across ceiling goes below this stair and projects slightly into the wall of the left side bedroom. Exposed joists. A shorter flight of stairs against the rear wall gives access down from the living room into the kitchen in the lower unit.
Main stairway ends in an upstairs landing with partition and entry into the bedroom over the living room. Stonework of chimney stack exposed in upper gable, behind queen post truss with cambered tie-beam, and what are either curved principles or the top part of a cruck frame concealed by masonry on the floor below. Exposed timber purlins.
Kitchen at ground floor in left unit contains large fireplace with rough bressummer against lower gable wall. Substantial spine beam with thinner joists. Rear outshut contains shower room with stairs down to a small bath in modern gabled extension.
The bedroom in the left cottage is now only accessible off the narrow stairway in the right cottage so it is unclear how this floor was originally accessed. It is only a few steps up from the living room in the right-hand unit. Fireplace against gable wall is most likely a modern reconstruction. Exposed timber purlins.
Reasons for Listing
Listed for its special architectural and historic interest as a good example of C17 and C18 smaller rural housing that has survived due to conversion into single house, with a legible development history, and good surviving traditional construction detail.
A 2001 extension joined to the north gable by a short covered passage is not of special interest. An early barn which appears on the 1840 Tithe Map adjacent to the house was converted into residential space in 1996 and is not of special interest. Nor are the other modern structures within the curtilage.
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
A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
For the Record
Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)