Modern County/Historic County East Yorkshire/East Riding YORKSHIRE VERNACULAR BUILDINGS STUDY GROUP Parish/Township West Cowick Name of Building Yew Cottage 87, Main Street National Grid Ref SE 6521 2151 Building Listed - Grade No Date of Record; Names of recorders 3rd July 2010 Lorraine Moor, Beth Shurter, Freda and Tony Tolhurst Plans, drawings and other documents attached to this report(please list) Block Plan of Site Ground floor plan First floor plan Analytical plan Elevations Sections Detail drawings Photographs Copies of inventories, maps, etc Oral information Others(Please list) DATING The present cottage dates from the early/mid 17 th century PLAN FORM Originally Through Passage now Central Lobby entry SUMMARY OF DESCRIPTION AND INTERPRETATION There has been a house on this site since probably the 15 th century. The earliest building being indicated by the presence of padstones and post holes beneath the floor of the west room. We were told that sections of timber with cruck like characteristics were found during the renovations The present cottage is of brick build and has undergone a number of changes over the years. There have been at least two possibly three floor levels, associated with the addition of the older of the two rear additions and the subsequent raising of the roof level The original cottage probably had a through passage plan and then the insertion of a large central stack changed this to the present lobby entry.
(2) Introduction The Group were invited to record Yew Cottage which was being completely renovated. This work resulted in a continuous uncovering of features which resulted in the report being continually rewritten. Although beginning as an architectural survey significant archaeological finds were made when the floor in the west room was removed for the insertion of a new, damp proof membrane. Although mention is made of the finds no analysis has been made and reported here. The York Archaeological Trust have been involved and any subsequent report on these finds could be added as an addendum Site The house is in the village of West Cowick near Snaithe. It is situated in the centre of the village on the main road which runs E-W and faces S. It is set at a slight angle to the main road. Relationships The plot is one of a series of detached and semi-detached houses along the North side of the road. The long garth at the rear has been sub divided. As the house is set back from the road there is a small area at the front which has been concreted. Description Exterior South Elevation. The frontage was until recently rendered which when removed revealed it to be of brick construction. The west end of the cottage has been rebuilt in modern cement blocks but the east end retains the original build of handmade bricks. The coursing is random English Garden Wall bond. There is a clay pantiled roof with a central stack. The doorway is centrally placed between modern windows. The east window has straight joints below where a previous French Door, visible in a pre 1976 aerial photograph has been removed. Also in this photo the door to the house was at the west end of the front wall. The house was rendered and there was no sign of the central door. There are two modern windows at first floor level. East Gable End. Built in brick as the front elevation there is a blocked taking door at first floor level and a blocked square window at ground floor level. The straight joint and roof line of the first outshot and its subsequent raising can be seen. North Elevation The rear elevation of the older part of the cottage is hidden behind a modern single storey outshot. The pantiled roof of the older building slopes down to meet the roof of the modern addition West Gable End Again built of handmade brick, the raising of the roof line is clearly visible as in the East Gable. Straight joints to the north indicate the position of the first and second additions to the rear of the properties. There is a modern window at first floor level.
(3) Interior Ground Floor The central doorway opens into a small lobby backing on to the central stack. Doors either side open into the ground floor rooms. The eastern room, lit by a window in the south wall is heated by a Victorian fireplace on the west wall. The chimney from this fireplace runs up the rear of the main central stack into the room above. The sides of the fireplace are decorated with fine tiles. There was a window, now blocked, in the East wall of this room. The joists which run E/W are slightly chamfered but appear to be fairly modern. The rear of the room opens directly into the first of the added outshots. In the west room there is a central spine beam running E/W, which is chamfered and has a stepped stop at the east end where it sits above the bressumer in the central stack. There is no sign of a stop at the west end. Chamfered joists run N/S. Beneath the bressumer the removal of a Victorian fireplace has revealed at least two earlier insertions into the original stack. The stack is divided longitudinally by a wall some 1½ m high. Above this wall it is possible to see the bressumer of the original fireplace in the east room before it was blocked and the Victorian fireplace inserted. The brickwork inside the stack is smoked blackened as expected, and the narrowing of the stack as it rises through the cottage is clearly visible. There is an area of brick flooring in the hearth which may well be original. Modern stairs run W/E along the rear wall of the room to the north side of the stack to a small landing. A door in the NW corner of the room gives access to the rear outshots. In the first and older addition, the brick wall of the original house shows two blocked features. The first is at the west end and seems to be a blocked doorway which may well have been at the foot of the first staircase. Insertion of the present stairs resulted in a new doorway to the west. Further to the east there is another, blocked doorway which lies in the centre of the house directly onto the side of the central stack. Removal of the floor in the outshot showed a wide foundation at the base of this wall behind the West room. A very small vertical sash window is set high up in the rear wall of this outshot opposite the central blocked door. The window is immediately above a diagonal straight joint running up the wall forming the dividing wall in the outshot. This joint is in line with the original roof line of the brick house. A larger, modern window to the west looks into the second extension beyond which is accessed by two steps to the west of this. At the east of the first outshot is a small room whose walls are built at an angle to the original cottage. Another window in this area also looks into the modern addition. A wall plate runs the full length of the rear wall of the first outshot and the base of a possible post can be seen at floor level to the side of the steps leading into the modern addition. This part of the cottage was not recorded. First Floor. Stairs against the rear wall of the west ground floor room give access to the first floor. The stairs end at a small landing built against the side of the stack. The wall on the north side of this landing has been removed to reveal an opening with a timber lintel. This doorway gives access to the roof space above the first outshot where there is a purlin running E/W and the rafters have been under drawn with boarding. There appears to have been a very steep staircase running up from the outshot. On the landing the flooring has been removed to reveal three floor levels and the top of another earlier flight of stairs. The top is of modern chipboard, forming the present flooring of the bedrooms, and covers the older floor, some 10cms below. This older floor has boards running E/W. is at the same height as the ceiling in the west ground floor room. The top of the earlier stairs leads up to this floor. A further 20cms below this is another section of floor again with the boards running E/W. The doorway on the landing leading into the east bedroom can clearly be seen to have been cut into the slope of the central stack. Roof Access to the roof space was very limited and only a small area could be seen. The stack could be clearly seen with a single brick string course below the current ridge height. The roof has undergone various repairs over the years but appears to have originally been a common rafter roof with a narrow ridge piece. Rows of nails in the lower face of each rafter suggest that it was at sometime boarded as the roof space above the outshot. After our visit it was necessary to replace many of the roof timbers. During this process a number of timbers bearing signs of burning were seen
(4) Interpretations and Conclusions The earliest building on the site was the pottery kilns, or spoil heaps from these dating to the late 14 th century. The majority of the sherds found were of Humber ware (or more specifically West Cowick ware). The presence of the padstones and post holes cut into the spoil heaps indicates a timber framed building. There were insufficient postholes etc discovered to arrive at a plan form for this house. The reported reuse of cruck like timbers in the house indicates it may have been of cruck construction perhaps dating to the mid to late 15 th century. The exact date for the building of the first brick house is difficult to arrive at but could have been in the early to mid 17 th century. It was suggested by the builder carrying out the renovations, and who has done a lot of work in the area, that the first brick house was a one cell, one storey construction occupying the east half of the site which was then extended by building to the west. The rebuilding of the west end of the front wall has destroyed any evidence of straight joints which would have added weight to this idea. Secondly there was no evidence of a lower roof line in the either gable end to suggest a single storey. It is postulated that the house was originally a two cell one and a half story building. It was again suggested by the builder and agreed by us that the original plan form was that of a through passage design. We were told that there are still through passage houses a few miles to the west in Snaithe. There is no evidence of how this house would have been heated. Evidence gathered by the Group of houses in the Holderness area indicated that the majority of houses seen were of end stack central entry plan. There are no signs of end stacks in the existing brickwork although all evidence could well have been removed when the house was modified in the mid to late 18 th century. The presence of a blocked window in the east gable wall suggests that it was either put in when the stacks were removed and blocked later or there may have been one or more central fireplaces lost when the large central stack was inserted later. There is a taking in door in the east gable end which dates to this time and therefore suggests that at least the east end of the roof space was used for storage. Any sleeping area would have been at the west end and possibly both sections of the roof space were reached by ladder steps. At a later date, perhaps in the late 17 th century, the outshot was added, with the wall at the east gable end set for an unknown reason at an angle to the wall of the house. The roof line of this addition and the straight joint with the main house are clearly visible in both gable walls. The same roof line has been revealed in the dividing wall in the outshot by the removal of the plaster. The slope is in the same line as the original roof of the house. A central stack was then installed probably in the early 18 th century resulting in the present lobby entry plan. As indicated above, this fireplace was common to both rooms with the two bressumers still in situ. That in the west room is clearly visible but that in the east room can only be seen by standing inside the stack and looking over the dividing wall. The insertion of this stack caused the door in the rear of the house either to be to be blocked as the space between the back wall and the side of the stack was too narrow to make an entrance feasible. Or left as a door into a cupboard built against the north wall of the stack. Again the renovations exposed this doorway. At the front, the stack turned the cottage into a lobby entry plan with doors either side giving access to the ground floor rooms. A new rear door may have been inserted in the wall of the west room, now indicated by the blocked doorway visible toward the west end of this room from the outshot. A spine beam running E/W in this room has a stepped chamfer stop at the end that sits in the wall above the bressumer but with nothing at the west end where it goes into the west gable wall. It is suggested that this beam supported a lower floor as seen in the section under the landing which may have been the floor associated with the cross passage plan and which then lost the west chamfer stop when the stack was inserted and the floor level
(5) raised some 20 centimetres This type of chamfer stop has been dated from the 16 th century to the early 18 th so could well have been used in the original cross passage or soon after In the early to mid 18 th century the roof was raised and, the house made into a full two storey. The string course at the top of the old stack (visible in the roof space) and the straight joints in the gable ends indicate the height of the raising Possibly at this same time the taking in door was blocked and the whole of the first floor used for domestic purposes. A staircase was then added from the outshot to the upper rooms and lit by the small window in the rear wall rising to a landing against the stack. The door uncovered on the present landing would have been at the top of these stairs. Later in perhaps the late 18 th early 19 th century these stairs were replaced by stairs leading up from the west room. The top of this staircase can be seen under the landing floor and the shadow of its alignment in the wall beneath the current staircase. These stairs were fairly steep and run from the now blocked doorway in that room. In the east room it is suggested that the open fireplace of the central stack was blocked and the present fireplace with tiled surround inserted. A new flue was put in from this fireplace passing up through the ceiling before re-entering the original stack. In recent times, probably in the 20 th century, the stairs were replaced with the current set at a much shallower angle leading to the present chipboard floor and the earlier door blocked. In an aerial photograph taken pre1976 there is no central door visible, as the front has been rendered, but there is a door at the west end of the front elevation. At that time there were also patio doors at the east end, now replaced with a normal window. A local resident who moved to the village in the mid 1960 s, said that at that time the cottage was divided into two occupancies. Perhaps the door to the eastern half was where the patio doors are seen in the aerial photograph. If the house was divided into two there are now no signs of the position of a staircase to reach the upper floor. The aerial photograph also shows that when taken the roof appeared to have red pantiles, coping stones and small kneelers. The chimney was also much higher than that seen today. Therefore, sometime after that, the cottage was reroofed with the loss of the coping stones, kneelers, and the chimney was lowered. The burnt roof timbers found may have some bearing on this, suggesting a roof fire.this may have happened in the 1990 s when the western half of the front wall was rebuilt and the central door probably reinstated at that time. The rebuild has destroyed any evidence of the end doorway.
(6) Drawings 1) South Elevation 2) West gable end 3) Ground floor plan Photographs 1) Aerial photo pre 1976 2) Renovation 2010 3) Victorian fire place 4) Stepped chamfer stop 5) First floor levels 6) First floor levels 7) Shadow of earlier stair case 8) Door cut into stack