Church Cottage appears in a late C19 sketch, and can also be seen (with its well shown) in the 1873 Berks XLIII Map of Kintbury. Unfortunately the tithe map of 1815 does not go sufficiently far north to show the cottage. In the census records for 1841, 1851, 1861 and 1871, Church Cottage is occupied by Elizabeth Coleman, a laundress, and her family. By 1881 the occupant is Harry Langford, a gardener, with his family, and he remains until 1904. In 1911 the occupant is James Holborow, a blacksmith, and his wife. It is possible that during this 50 year period the house was leased by the incumbent vicar of the church. The 1939 census gives the occupants as Margaret and James Turner, with their four children. The house today remains in occupation by a Turner family member.
This description is taken from the report by Historic England following consideration of the property for national listing.
18 Church Street is a modest vernacular dwelling dating to the late C16 or early C17. The building is brick built, with a timber framed roof structure. The frame comprises an upper cruck truss and a queen strut truss holding a roof with clasped purlins and wind braces. The queen strut truss has two additional braces between the queen struts. The presence of a single cruck truss in a building of this date is not unusual for West Berkshire – the National Heritage List for England (known as The List), lists 24 Grade II and three Grade II* properties with cruck frames or partial cruck frames, of which 17 date to the late C16 or early C17. While West Berkshire is at the south eastern end of the distribution of the cruck building tradition, this shows that 18 Church Street is typical of the C16-C17 vernacular of West Berkshire.
18 Church Street contains a number of unusual or early elements. The original roof timbers for the earlier half hipped roof survive within the roof space, and are smoke blackened. The smoke blackened timbers, together with the termination of the spine beam at the truss, rather than at the end wall of the building strongly suggests that the end bay was used as a smoke bay. The end gable of the southern wall also shows the earliest surviving brickwork in the house, parts of which may be contemporary with the frame (i.e. C16 – C17). The end gable of the northern wall includes some surviving wattle and daub infill, protected behind the overhanging eaves and chimney.
The house has seen a number of changes: the insertion of dormer windows resulted in the removal of the wind braces on the east side of the building. The dormer windows were presumably inserted at the same time as the upper storey, to allow the upper floor to become habitable. The date of this change is unknown, but is likely to have been after the installation of chimneys, and probably relatively early in the life of the building. They are visible in a C19 sketch of the cottage.
The northernmost truss has two additional braces inserted between the queen struts. The purpose of these braces is not clear as they have no structural function. The northern truss may have been moved or rebuilt, however, as the northern stack is freestanding, some 400mm away from the wall of the building.
There are several repairs and renovations visible throughout the building: the west wall of the building was demolished and rebuilt in the C20 (including the insertion of a large bay window), and several phases of alteration are visible on other elevations, utilising at least two different sizes of brick and a number of bonds. Several of the joists visible in the parlour have been replaced with sawn timbers, and the fireplace has been rebuilt in modern brick. Within the roof space, while the south end of the roof structure has been retained, most of the rafters have been replaced with modern timberwork. The replacement of much of the roof structure renders the interpretation of the northern gable of the house impossible.
Cottage, late C16 or early C17. Brick built with timber framed upper storey and tiled roof. Original ground plan consisted of two rooms with fireplaces either end, two later single storey extensions have been added at the north end (kitchen, bathroom, toilet and store) and the first floor comprises two bedrooms separated by a stairwell. The exterior is red brick in Flemish bond. The east-facing principal elevation has a central doorway in a brick and tile porch, with a pair of eight light casements to either side. Above are two pairs of six light casements set in dormers. The roof is peg tiled. The south elevation contains three different sizes of brick, laid in a combination of Flemish bond, English bond and shiner bond, and houses an external chimney stack. The north end of the building has an external stack that emerges from the single storey extension and continues to full height as a free standing stack. The north elevation shows some wattle and daub between the chimney stack and the upper storey wall. The west elevation contains a large C20 bow window. Doors throughout are plank and ledge built, with wooden handles and wrought iron strap hinges. The doors are hung on wrought iron pintles. The owner confirms that one door is original, while he constructed the remainder to match (he worked as a carpenter). Window furniture comprises C20 iron latches and stays.
There is a brick built well to the east of the property offset from the front door. This is clearly original and still has its winding gear, although it is very overgrown. As part of the original design it would be reasonable to include the well in the listing.
The only nearby properties lie to the north beyond the curtilage and are not included.
Although the property has been much altered, there are sufficient historic survivals to make this a valuable asset on the local list. It is also a very good example of a vernacular property, and one which makes a positive contribution to the conservation area.
Location
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