Timber-framed building to the rear of Bwthyn Bach, Knapwell, Cambridgeshire

Summary

Timber-framed building, probably of late-C16 to early-C17 date, remodelled as a cottage in the later C17, converted to a doctor’s surgery around 1953, now (2022) disused.

Description

Timber-framed building, probably of late-C16/early-C17 date, remodelled as a cottage in the later-C17, converted to a doctor’s surgery around 1953, now (2022) disused.

MATERIALS: timber-framed on a shallow brick plinth, both cement-rendered, with a half-hipped thatched roof with an overhanging eaves and brick ridge stack.

PLAN: it is rectangular-on-plan, aligned north-east to south-west.

EXTERIOR: the building is of a single storey with a later-C17 attic floor to the east bay. Its south-facing principal elevation is of two bays with two-light casements to each bay and a wooden door with a central glazed panel at the left-hand end. The rear elevation has an identical fenestration pattern along with the addition of a narrow casement window to the off-centre right. The west gable end is blind while the east gable end has a two-light casement to the attic. The door and windows, the latter being metal-framed with diamond-leaded lights, all date from the building’s conversion to a doctor's surgery in around 1953.

INTERIOR: the original post and truss structure is exposed internally and comprises a two-bay frame with jowled wall posts and three principal rafter roof trusses with waney-edged common rafters between. The frame is braced by double-pegged tension braces rising from the wall posts to the original tie beam and wall plates in the west bay, including the north side of the central cross wall, and to the secondary tie beam and wall plates inserted below the originals in the east bay when it was ceiled in the later C17. Most are waney-edged and slightly curved, apart from two straight members at the gable ends, probably later replacements. The central wall post on the south side only supports a single brace rising to the secondary wall plate in the east bay. The sill beam, into which the wall posts are tenoned, survives at the east and west ends and, apart from a small section in the east bay, which is a later replacement, most of the north side. On the south side, the patina of the timber in the east bay suggests that the sill beam here is a later replacement, while the south wall of the west bay retains no original timber-framing. The studding between the wall posts is widely spaced, being single-pegged at the top and bottom, with some intermediary studs at the east end. Infill is mainly of wattle and daub with some cement to the north side of the west bay.

The west bay, which is now (2021) open to the roof after the removal of its mid-C20 attic floor, is dominated by a later-C17 painted brick stack on its east side, its hearth opening reduced in size in around 1953. On the north side, a modern stud wall with a two-light casement window forms a small annexe containing a WC. On the west side, two studs retain holes for pegs or supports for shelving.

The east bay has a later-C17 ceiling with a chamfered axial beam supported by a timber post on the east side and a brick pier (later reinforced with a timber post) on the west side. Tenoned into the beam are cambered ceiling joists with small pieces of timber inserted between the joists and ceiling due to later structural movement. An enclosed staircase in the north-east corner has a boarded and ledged door and a winder stair with plank treads and risers.

The attic room above the east bay has exposed framing throughout, including the original wall plates and tie beam, along with wide floorboards. The roof pitches consist of exposed waney-edged rafters to a high level where the remainder is underdrawn, above which are common rafter couples. Infill between the rafters is mainly of wattle and plaster. Placed along the north side of the west bay is a narrow galley/mezzanine with a handrail made from reused timber.

History

Although the exact origins of the timber-framed building standing at the rear of Bwthyn Bach, a two-storey dwelling erected in 1952, is uncertain, an inspection of its structural fabric suggests that it was probably built in the late C16 to early C17, possibly as a two-bay agricultural or ancillary building to Knapwell Manor House, which stood around 110m to the south-west, opposite the Church of All Saints (listed Grade II*), on the north side of Church Lane.

A short time later, probably in the later C17, the building was remodelled as a two-unit cottage with the insertion of a central stack, possibly creating a lobby-entry plan and an attic floor above the east bay; the latter requiring the insertion of secondary tie beams and wall plates below the originals. The 1775 Enclosure Map of Knapwell, then owned by Mr Wright Squire of Peterborough, depicts the rectangular building standing in the north-east corner of a square-shaped enclosure on the north side of Church Lane, then a through road to the village of Boxworth to the north-east. Adjoining the enclosure on its west side was a large rectangular-shaped enclosure containing a large, L-shaped building, probably the manor house, and four further buildings.

In 1869, the Squire estate was sold at auction to Henry Hampden English, a Wisbech timber merchant. The estate map produced for the sale depicts the cottage standing in the north-east corner of what had then become a sub-rectangular enclosure due to post-Enclosure alterations to the surrounding field boundaries. The manor house and its ancillary buildings had also been demolished by this date. At the time of the auction, Knapwell was divided into five farms, all with farmhouses and associated buildings, with the cottage and its garden enclosure belonging to the lot called ‘The Wood Farm’.

When the First Edition Ordnance Survey 25-inch Map of Knapwell was published in 1886, the enclosure had been extended slightly to the north to include a narrow strip of land at the rear of the cottage. A small ancillary structure of unknown function had also been erected immediately to its north-west and a small pond dug just outside the south-east corner of the enclosure. By the time of the second edition map in 1902, the ancillary structure had been removed and the pond infilled. No further changes are shown on the third edition map of 1926.

Little is subsequently known about the cottage until it was purchased, along with the surrounding plot, by Dr Thomas Meurig Owen (1918-2002). In 1950, Dr Owen had become the physician in charge of the neighbouring Papworth Village Settlement, a centre for the treatment and aftercare of people with tuberculosis, with the work being part general practice, part occupational and rehabilitative health. In 1953, Dr Owen extended the general practice part of his work by joining with a single-handed doctor in Knapwell. In the same year, he built a house, which he called Bwthyn Bach (Welsh for Small Cottage), immediately to the south of the existing timber-framed cottage. The cottage itself was subsequently converted into a doctor’s surgery and used as such until Dr Owen retired in 1979. The external work undertaken to facilitate this work included the application of cement render and the replacement of the existing windows with metal-framed casements with diamond-leaded panes. Internal alterations were largely confined to the west bay and included the insertion of an attic floor, a reduction in the hearth opening and the insertion of a small annexe to accommodate a WC. A concrete floor was also laid throughout the ground floor.

Reasons for Listing

The timber-framed building, to the rear of Bwthyn Bach, probably built in the late C16/early C17 as an agricultural or ancillary building, remodelled as a cottage in the later C17 and converted to a doctor's surgery in around 1953, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* it remains a legible example of a late-C16/early-C17 vernacular building;
* it retains a significant proportion of its timber frame which provides important evidence of the development in building practices, materials and styles of carpentry.

Historic interest:

* it has evolved over two principal phases of development with significant elements from each phase surviving;
* its conversion to residential use reflects the evolution in use and plan form of domestic buildings during the C17 which adds significantly to its interest.

Group value:

* it has group value with the nearby scheduled remains of a Norman motte and the medieval moated site of Overhall manor house and the Grade II*-listed Church of All Saints.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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