Cottage by the Brook

This little cottage in Shropshire, although difficult to age from the exterior (the chimneys do help a bit) hides a gem of a timber frame. Originally going back to the 14th century this cottage contains part of an arch collared, cruck framed, open hall!

Proposals:

Our involvement at the Cottage by the Brook were to gain Listed Building Consent for the repairs to the end gable. This involved the surveying of the existing timber frame, a repair drawing and strategy as well as heritage statement to support the application. This was then submitted to the local authority and approved.

The repairs were marked up as a "best fit" estimate based upon the timber on show, the final design and repairs will be finalised once the opening up works have been completed. This serves as a worst case scenario.

History:

The cottage contains all the hallmarks of a medieval hall house. With a later solar range added some time in the 17th Century. The timber framing is of high quality with large, timbers potentially denoting an abundance of wealth when it was constructed. The building has lost all of it cruck frames apart from the one which sits on its party wall. We cannot be certain of its original form but the crucks of the hall were later replaced with box framing, presumably this happened during solar extension. This may give reasoning to its rather odd and squat proportion.

It will be interesting to see how this project progresses and what secrets it may reveal once the works begin on site!

Cruck:

A Bath with a View!!