Drove Cottage

Description

The building has a central east/west range with half-hips flanked north and south by gabled wings. The lower elevations are brick with tile-hung upper elevations beneath a tiled roof.

There are three bays with a multi-flue stack occupying, but not filling, the central bay. There are transverse girders, one with unused joist mortices on its eastern face, in the central range and high-set plain joists which were once ceiled. There was an earlier baffle entry into the central bay. There are brick hearths with ovens into the northern wing, which had been expanded from an original lean-to with a catslide roof. There is slight framing with bay posts along the elevation between the main range and lean-to which is ceiled to the attic space. The roof structure contains clasped side-purlins; curved raking struts; flying collars over the two outer bays. The rafters are pegged at their apex; there are diagonally scarfed purlins fastened with blacksmith's nails. There are some sooted and re-used rafters with collar halvings and some with carpenter's marks (see picture below).

Conclusions

Baffle-entry plan is typical of post-medieval constructions, built with a chimney stack. Here the stack does not clearly respect the bay divisions. It provides heating to rooms on both floors and flues to two ovens. The rear outshot is appreciably wide. The construction is no longer fully timber-framed, and what is used is largely re-claimed. The mirror image of the building indicates planning for dual occupation. Early mapping indicates it was originally on an island 'waste' site.

However, the pegged apex indicates a pre-1750 date although the manorial map of 1754 is ambiguous; all other diagnostic features would fit a date in the first quarter of the 1700s. The roof contains material that must have come from a building dating from at least the mid-1500s-it has both clean and soot-stained rafters turned through 45 degrees with collar halvings. The unused mortices on one of the transverse girders and unfinished work on the other girder are also evidence for re-use, or use of timber rejected from other builds.

These notes have been compiled from survey reports prepared by Dr Annabelle Hughes. The full reports have been deposited in the Sussex Archaeological Society Library, Barbican House, Lewes where they can be consulted by researchers.

Carpenter's marks on the rafters. Reproduced by kind permission of Adrian Allaway

Tithe Data

313 Cottage and Garden
(Drove House)

1841 Census

Tenement Analysis

Buildings

Archaeology

Old Maps

Further Information