THRIFT COTTAGE
THRIFT COTTAGE RESTORATION
Heritage Category: Listed Building
Grade: II
List Entry Number: 1124106
Date first listed: 22-Mar-1974
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Location
Statutory Address: THRIFT COTTAGE, SEWARDSTONE ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
County: Essex
District: Epping Forest (District Authority)
Parish: Waltham Abbey
National Grid Reference: TL 38484 00382
Details
SEWARDSTONE ROAD THRIFT COTTAGE
II A cottage of early C19, incorporating fabric of the C18, altered in the late C19 and C20.
MATERIALS: Timber-framed, with pebble-dashed render, which at the rear is applied to weatherboard cladding.
PLAN: Simple two room plan on ground floor with outshot to the south.
EXTERIOR: The cottage has two storeys. The façade has a central, C19 gabled porch with a two light sash window on the right and the original sash with glazing bars on the left. At first floor, there are two, boarded up, flush sash windows with glazing bars, but without horns. The asymmetric, gable roof has a plain tile covering to the front pitch and pantiles to the rear and there are two end stacks, both truncated. Beneath the weatherboard on the rear elevation a timber midrail, studs and part of a door jamb are exposed. The rear extension has been removed, exposing an interior doorway into the rear kitchen and outshot. The main rear entrance lies to the right and there is an original window opening further to the right at ground floor level, although the window itself has been removed. At first floor there are two, boarded-up flush sash windows with glazing bars flanking a central casement window.
INTERIOR: There are boxed in bridging beams in both ground floor rooms. The fire surrounds have been removed, but the dado and picture rails, built-in cupboards and wall panelling beneath the dado rail remain in the right-hand room. The midrail of the south cross frame remains, and continues, exposed, into the kitchen to the rear. The left-hand room has exposed studwork at the north gable end and picture rails. All windows have moulded timber surrounds. At the rear a steep dog-leg stair leads to the first floor. The three bedrooms are plain, and none have their fireplaces. The exposed window frames are all six-over-six sash windows without horns. There are two, two-panel doors, one with an ‘H-L’ hinge. The casement window above the stairs, said to be C20 in date, comprises two leaded lights, the top with a hopper opening, and each with 25 stained glass panes. At the centre of both are Coats of Arms with geometric stained-glass patterns.
HISTORY: Thrift Hall and Thrift Cottage are identified on the parish map of 1825 (possibly that by JJ Crawter and Sons) when they are owned by Charles Preston. They are also depicted on the Tithe Map of 1842. The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1870 shows Thrift Hall and the cottage within the walled garden of the Hall, on the suburban outskirts of Waltham Abbey. It appears that the cottage is either very close or attached to a larger villa to its south known as The Limes. The sale particulars for the hall and cottage, dated 1859, states that the cottage had four bedrooms, a parlour, kitchen, scullery and larder and gardens to the front and rear.
Thrift Hall was renovated in the early C21, but the cottage, which was once accommodation for the hall’s caretaker, has been vacant since approximately 1997. At the time of the inspection, most of the door and window openings were boarded over.
SOURCES: Waters, D W, ‘Structural report on condition of Thrift Cottage, Sewardstone Road, Waltham Abbey, Essex’ (unpublished structural report, July 2009) Thames Valley Archaeological Services, ‘Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment: BTR Works, Sewardstone, Waltham Abbey, Essex’, (unpublished archaeological report, August 2001) The Morton Partnership ‘Thrift Cottage, Sewardstone Road, Waltham Abbey’, (unpublished letter to Epping Forest District Council, August 2006) Waltham Abbey Museum, ‘Thrift Cottage, Sewardstone Road, (unpublished report following site visit of 1988)
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: Thrift Cottage, Sewardstone Road, Waltham Abbey, a vernacular dwelling of the early C19, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons. * Architectural: It retains early C19 features and incorporates fabric of the C18. Its earliest plan-form remains legible, contributing to its special architectural interest. * Group Value: The building has strong historical, functional and architectural group value with Thrift Hall immediately to the north.
