Laurel Cottage and No.1 Church Close, Gillingham, Dorset

Summary

A dwelling of C16/C17 date with a C18 crosswing, with later alterations and arranged as two dwellings.

Description

A house of late-C16 or early-C17 origin arranged as two dwellings, with C18 and C19 additions and alterations in the C20 and C21.

MATERIALS: local rubble stone with red brick and stone extensions and alterations. The roof and floor structures are timber and the roof is covered in modern clay tile.

PLAN: built on an L-plan with the crosswing rebuilt in the C18 and extended to the north in the C19. Laurel Cottage is of two storeys. No. 1 Church Close is of two storeys plus attic and its addition is single-storey plus attic.

EXTERIOR: the façade of Laurel Cottage faces west and fronts the road. It is of three unequal bays with reordered openings including two sealed doors. The ground floor openings are under timber lintels and the stonework is coursed and there is a replacement wall plate under the eaves. The south-west and south-east corners have red brick quoins to a rebuilt rubble stone south end elevation, with a truncated red brick end stack. The east elevation consists of Laurel Cottage to the left (two unequal bays) and No.1 Church Close to the right (the projecting brick crosswing). Laurel Cottage is coursed rubble stone with C20 timber casements and a door to the right with a section of brick walling to the right. The door of No.1 Church Close has a tiled canopy set in the angle of the L-plan. The brick elevations to No.1 Church Close are in Flemish bond with some overburnt bricks and there are C21 timber casements. To the north, modern red brick adjoins the rubble stone elevation of the C19 single-storey wing, which is under a pitched pantile roof. The west elevation of this wing has a weatherboarded lean-to extension* forming a catslide roof, and there are two rooflights above. The north flank of Laurel Cottage has openings to the left under timber lintels.

INTERIOR: Laurel Cottage has a central stair*, probably a C20 insertion, with a central stopped and chamfered spine beam to its south. The structural timbers in the building are probably of C16 date with C17 insertions and alterations. At the north end of the central bay is a stop-chamfered beam of larger scantling, probably not in its original position. The north bay of the building has an exposed timber framed first-floor structure of chamfered timbers (the principals with stops), and with a section of plank and muntin panelling. The south bay of the building (living room) has a similar exposed first floor structure, with unstopped chamfered timbers. Dowel holes in the spine beam in the north wall (by the stair) indicate a former plank and muntin screen on this wall. The south end of the room appears to be built out and has a modern inserted fireplace in the end wall. The south spine beam has a plain outer face. To the first floor there is a mixture of C16/C17 wall plates and second floor structure, in part adapted, and with C21 replacement timbers*, partitions and ceilings with partial openings to a restored C16/C17 roof. The roof has two open arch-braced collar trusses with assembly marks and slight chamfers to the arch-braces. At the corner of the crosswing is a diagonally-set truss with a set of ‘V’ assembly marks identifying it as truss 5 in the original construction. The roof has two sets of through purlins and some original rafters. Approximately 30 per cent of the roof structure is of 2015 date*.

No.1 Church Close has been heavily restored following the fire in 2014 and many of the visible C17-C19 structural timbers are not in their original position or have been repaired. There is a well in the kitchen floor and in the lounge the wall arrangement around a modern wood stove* appears to include the remains of a bread oven.

* Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historic interest.

History

Laurel Cottage appears to be of late C16 or early C17 date and No.1 Church Close is a C18 rebuilt crosswing to Laurel Cottage with a C19 addition to the north. The buildings are on the First Edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1887 and subdivided into four separate units, three of which overlooked the churchyard. There is a larger unit (roughly on the footprint of Laurel Cottage as it is in 2016) fronting Gas House Lane (St Mary’s Place) to the west. The three smaller units adjoining to the east stand in-line north to south. By the Ordnance Survey Map of 1901 the unit to the south had been demolished and in 2016 is a garden. By the later C20 the two remaining units were reconfigured to form a single dwelling, No.1 Church Close. In 2014 there was an extensive fire across the roofs and parts of the upper floors of the buildings, which resulted in the loss and replacement of approximately 30% of the timber structure of the C16/C17 principal range. The replacement of roof structure to No.1 Church Close was more extensive. The buildings have been restored and refurbished.

Reasons for Listing

Laurel Cottage & No.1 Church Close, Gillingham, Dorset, a dwelling of late-C16 or early-C17 date, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural interest: as a legible example of a late C16/early-C17 dwelling, containing a substantial proportion of its original fabric;
* Quality of construction: the building displays high quality craftsmanship in its historic fabric including the remaining roof timbers, first-floor structure, stonework and brickwork;
* Intactness: the building retains a significant proportion of historic fabric and some of its historic plan;
* Interior: Laurel Cottage retains some exposed timber structure which forms part of an historic interior including exposed first floor chamfered beams (some with stops) and part of a plank and muntin screen. No.1 Church Close is largely reordered but contains elements of the early service wing including a well and the remains of a bread oven;
* Group value: it continues to possess strong group value with the other historic buildings on the road, notably the Church of St Mary (Grade I).

External Links

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