MEM24754 - Forge Cottage, Wootton Courtenay (Building)

The Tithe Map for Wootton Courtenay shows a small rectangular building at c. SS 9369 4317 abutting the road. It is labelled 326, which the Apportionment describes as "Smiths Shop and Cottage", owned by The Right Honorable Lord Sherborne and William Prescott, occupied by the latter. [1] The building had either been extended or rebuilt on a larger scale by the time the 25 inch 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map was surveyed. It is subdivided into three sections, the northernmost of which appears to be labelled "Smithy". [2] The property is shown on 2018 MasterMap data with no subdivision and is labelled "Forge Cottage". [3] The building has a central tiled and rendered core of two storeys, with a central entrance porch carrying a slate roof. There is an extension to the left (south) that has a slightly lower gable and slated roof and has a less domestic character. There are only two windows on this section of the front elevation, with that on the ground floor apparently being a blocked in double doorway, but this part of the property now appears to be part of the domestic curtilage of the house. The northernmost section (on the right) is of a single storey, of painted rubble stone with brick dressings and with a pantile roof, and is likely to have been where the smithy was located, with central wooden double doors flanked on either side by windows. [4] Forge Cottage is mostly 18th or 19th Century in date, with a frontage of stone and render. It includes a double door former carriage entrance and the cottage frontage has typical three light casement windows with timber lintels. [5] Forge Cottage is rendered with a slate roof and includes part of a single storey range that is probably the former smithy. It is mostly 18th or 19th Century in date. The property was described as of local interest. [6] The cottage was part of the Wootton Courtenay Estate and was sold at auction by James Huntly Dutton on Wednesday 14th April 1921, as lot 26. A picture of the cottage is shown in the sales particulars. [7] The heritage asset was assessed for inclusion on the Exmoor Local Heritage List in November 2022. It was decided to add the asset to the Local Heritage List. [8]