Summary
Attached house, early C19 with late-C20 alterations. The late-C20 addition and the two-bay wing to the rear are not included in the listing.
Reasons for Designation
Cul-de-Cottage, an early-C19 dwelling which was extended and altered in the late C20, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: despite the loss of C19 fenestration, the balanced design of the principal façade is well built and in keeping with the vernacular tradition
* Alteration: the extension and alterations of the late C20 have not adversely affected the special interest; the house is a good survival of a modest early-C19 dwelling
* Group value: it contributes to the local street scene and forms a grouping with other listed buildings in the locality which together demonstrate the development of this part of Castle Cary in the C18 and C19
History
Cul-de-Cottage is described in the current List entry as dating from the early C19. It is situated at the east of Chapel Yard, a short lane on the east side of South Street, on the southern edge of Castle Cary, a small market town. By at least 1700 Castle Cary was one of the principal cloth-making towns in the area, but with the collapse of the wool industry by the end of the century, linen weaving took its place. From the late C18 the production of sailcloth and the weaving of horsehair cloth for upholstery supported the local economy. Cul-de-Cottage is attached to the late-C18 Chapel Yard House (Grade II) where entrepreneur and textile merchant John Boyd is said to have started his horsehair weaving business in 1837. In 1851 Boyd built a new factory, often known as the Ansford factory, in what is now Upper High Street to the north-west.
During the late C20, and prior to the inclusion of Cul-de-Cottage on the List, planning consent was granted for a substantial rear extension and for internal alterations including the removal of existing partitions to both the ground and first floors, the re-positioning and replacement of the staircase, and the renewal of the joinery. The windows and entrance door were also replaced, except for the bay window to the front. Also to the rear, a two-storey wing attached to the north-eastern corner of Chapel Yard House, which previously contained a fireplace and a staircase and was latterly used as a store, was altered and incorporated within Cul-de-Cottage. Its former pitched roof was replaced with a flat roof and its gable end chimneystack was removed.
Details
Attached house, early C19 with late-C20 alterations. The late-C20 additions and the two-bay wing to the rear are not included in the listing.
MATERIALS: constructed of random and cut and squared Doulting stone under a Roman clay tile (originally thatched) roof with a stepped coping to the east gable end and brick chimneystacks. The late-C20 rear extension has rendered walls and a pitched Roman tiled roof, while the adjacent (north-west) single bay is built of Cary stone and has a flat roof.
PLAN: L-shaped in plan, comprising the early-C19 house, the late-C20 read extension and the adjacent two-bay wing which is attached to the north-east corner of Chapel Yard House to which Cul-de-Cottage is attached. The late-C20 addition and the two-bay wing to the rear are not of special interest. The detached garage to the south-east is also not of interest.
EXTERIOR: the three-bay frontage faces south-west and has a central entrance with a late-C20 panelled door with top-light glazing under a pitched hood with a plain tile roof. To the left of the doorway is a late-C20 two-light timber casement, while the right-hand bay has a 1:3:1-light square bay window with horizontal bar casements and a hipped zinc or lead-covered roof. To the first floor are three late-C20 casements of two and three lights. The right return is constructed of random rubble with a timber casement to the right-hand end at ground-floor level. The late-C20, two-storey addition (not of interest) to the right has a three-light window to both the ground and first floors. The rear elevation has a doorway and patio doors at ground floor, and windows of three and one light respectively to the first floor. The two bays to the right (not of interest) contain to openings.
INTERIOR: there has been some internal reconfiguring with the creation of a hall and openings in the former rear wall at both the ground and first floors to provide access to the late-C20 extension. The sitting room in the early-C19 part of the building has a fireplace with modern surround and a ceiling beam with shallow chamfering and runout stops. A late-C20 staircase in the hall leads to the first floor where all of the joinery is modern. The roof retains its early-C19 yoked principal rafters, tie beams, staggered trenched purlins and rafters. There has been some subsequent reinforcing with additional timbers.
