Site of 16th century farmhouse, Cotton's Farm, Sculpin's Lane (EHER 29304)

A former mid 16th century timber-framed farmhouse, with alterations in the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, including the extension of the building twice to the west, the rebuilding an directing of the brick chimney stack, and extensive modern renovations. The building was destroyed by fire on Thursday 9th May 2013.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Cotton's Farm (NAT). <1> Cotton's Farmhouse. House. Mid 16th century, altered in the 20th century. RCHM 44. Grade II. <2> Cotton's Farm, house and barn, about 1 1/2 miles east of the church. The house has a brew house at the west end. <3> August 2013. Level 3 building survey. Cotton’s Farmhouse was destroyed by fire on Thursday 9th May 2013. A level 3 building recording assessment was undertaken to compare the remains of the building with the listing description. The farmhouse is present on the 1777 Chapman and Andre map but its origin is likely to be of an earlier mid 16th century date. It would have originally been built as an open hall house with three bays, and in the early 17th century a floor was fitted over the hall, and the building was extended to full height to add two bays to the West of the original house. In the 18th to early 19th century, an extension was added at the Western end and now contains the bread oven and water cistern. At this time, the central firestack was rebuilt and recited to its current position. The house was renovated in 1985 and again extensively renovated in 1995, which probably included the rebuilding of many of the brick walls, at the same time as the garden room was erected to replace a conservatory. All that remains of the northern elevation is a centrally placed brick firestack and a section of wall on the north-west corner. All the walls of the house were pushed outwards by the collapsing roof and floor. The exterior walls were rendered with cement on EML (Expanded Metal Lath) which fell off in sheets. To the eastern end of the ruin two late 20th century copies of 1930s window frames with reproduction hardware escaped being burnt, as did the early 19th century brick bread oven and concrete water cistern on the western elevation. To the south a modern timber-framed garden room supported a section of the original timber-frame. The eastern elevation was clad with late 20th to early 21st century weatherboards fastened with French nails. The north-west standing wall is composed of modern machine cut timbers and old reused bricks set in grey cement in a poor quality herringbone pattern. The sole plates are recent, on a rebuilt plinth and are likely of the 1985 rebuild. The western elevation has a large concrete water cistern that took the rainwater from the roof. It is butted up against an early 19th century brick bread oven that has been newly lime rendered and given a replacement tile roof flaunched with grey cement. Inside can be seen the domed oven, typical of the early 19th century. The building's central fireplace had been rebuilt to incorporate a turning engine to rotate a spit. The back of the fireplace had been further altered with a skin of modern brickwork and an RSJ. <4> See also: <5>