Nos 1 & 2 Sprivers Cottages, Horsmondon, Kent - Archaeology ...

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Archaeology South-EastNo. 1 & 2 Sprivers Cottages, Horsmonden, KentInterpretive Historic Building Survey / Rev 01/October 2007joints visible in the head of the frame. The glazing bars are ovolo mouldedand the window catch has a simple moulded knob handle (see Plate 11).5.3.1.3 Room 2.3 is the service part of the cottage. It is 6.35m x 2.81m in size andruns the full length of the cottage. It is at a slightly lower level than thenorthern range of the house and it is necessary to step down over the groundsill to gain access. The kitchen is accessed via a door in the rear southelevation with another doorway through to room 2.1. This latter door is ofplank and batten construction with strap hinges and a Norfolk latch (see Plate12). There is a further door to the understair cupboard referred to above. Thisis a later opening as evidenced by the empty mortice located on the ground sillthat forms the threshold to the cupboard as well as the remains of the studabove the door (see Plate 12). Access to the first floor is via a door at the eastend of the kitchen. This door is also plank and batten with round ended straphinges.The wall between the kitchen and room 2.1 has visible framing in the form ofvertical studs between the wall plate and ground cill (see Plate 12), this isindicative of an internal wall into a secondary space and not an external wall.The south wall is of brick and plaster and the east wall is also plastered buthas the shadow of a tie beam visible (see No. 1 Sprivers below). The westwall is taken up by a bread oven, fireplace and copper – all still in situ (seePlates 13, 14). These are of brick construction with a painted surface finish.The interior of the bread oven is u-shaped and runs back 1370mm (54”), it isconstructed of square thin bricks (see Plate 15). There is an empty mortice inthe post situated to the north of the bread oven, which indicates that the breadoven post dates the construction of the wall.There are two windows in the south wall. Both have been described above.The window to the east is illustrated in Plate 5 and is an original windowframe, which is of solid wood constructed – the dowels are visible in the headof the frame. The other window is a later insertion. It is three lights with 2 over3 panes in each with a central opening light. The window catch is a spiral andthe stay is a simple knob stay, both date from the 19 th century.There is an unadorned square section beam running north to south across theroom in line with the partition between rooms 2.1 and 2.2. It is however at alower level than that structure (see Plate12) and corresponds to the drop infloor level described above.5.3.1.4 Access to the first floor is gained via the stairs, which are located in the northeast corner of the kitchen. These rise directly from the ground sill with a seriesof winders to run parallel with the wall between 2.2 and 2.3 (see Figure 10 &Plate 16). It was not possible to view the stair construction from below. Theinternal wall is of daub construction and the rear southern wall is plastered. Atthe top of the southern wall of the stair case the top wall plate is visible withthe ceiling joists running over the top of the plate. At the top of the stairs arethree door ways.9
Archaeology South-EastNo. 1 & 2 Sprivers Cottages, Horsmonden, KentInterpretive Historic Building Survey / Rev 01/October 20075.3.1.5 Directly ahead is Room 2.4 the principal chamber (Plate 17). This room is3.353m x 3.940m (excluding the cupboard adjacent to the fire place which is1070mm deep). The floor is boarded with 125mm (5”) regular pine boardsthat have been laid directly on top of the original floor, which can be seen atthe threshold to the room. The walls are of plaster finish with no framingvisible, although there is a principal post with splay cut jowl visible on the northelevation with the top wall plate tenoned into it (see Plate 17). The tie beamand principal post are inset from the end wall by 200mm (8”) and there are twoshort beams tenoned into the west face of the tie beam, which then pass intothe brickwork of the end wall and terminal chimney. The post and beams areof fairly slim dimensions being 150mm (6”) square with joists 70mm (3”)square. The partition with room 2.5 is aligned below the tie beam and theprincipal post is visible in the wall structure. In the ceiling the cross beamspans from west to east between the two tie beams with joists tenoned intothe cross beam and the wall plates front and rear. Beams and joists are allchamfered with plain chamfer stops.There is a fireplace in the west wall that has been reduced in size and aVictorian grate inserted (see Plate 18). The door to the room has been hungso that the flush side is facing into the room. It is a plank and batten door1650mm high by 775mm wide. It is made up of irregular planks ranging insize from 125mm to 240mm. The hinges are strap hinges with rounded endsand the latch is a Norfolk latch. The door frame is constructed within thepartition between room 2.4 and 2.5 and the jowl to the wall post which marksthe frame of the door has been hacked off. There is an empty mortice in thispost which has no obvious function within this frame (i.e there are nocorresponding mortices in the underside of the tie beam) which leads to theview that the timber has been reused, which may also explain why the jowlhas been hacked off. The door to the cupboard adjacent to the fireplace isalso plank and batten, with a wooden latch.5.3.1.6 Turning right at the top of the stairs is the door to Room 2.5, which is asecondary parlour as it is unheated. This is 2.85 m x 2.8m in size. The floor iscurrently carpeted, however it is possible to see that it is boarded with oakboards, although not enough to measure their dimensions. The walls areplaster finished, although framing is visible in the partition between room 2.4and 2.5 and in the front elevation (see Plate 19). The studs are tenoned intothe tie beam, however the diagonal straight braces have been nailed on andthe studs are similarly nailed to the braces. The top wall plate has a bladedscarf joint where the partition between room 2.4 and 2.5 is located. There areno pegs or peg holes on the top wall plate in the north (front) elevationindicating that there were no studs in the front elevation and also that nowindow had been constructed at that level.There is a cross beam spanning from east to west which carries the joists forthe attic floor. The beam is 150mm square and joists are 70mm square, bothare chamfered. An opening has been cut through the joists to make anaccess to the attic (Plate 20) – this has been nailed to the tie beam and thejoist.10
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Nos 1 & 2 Sprivers Cottages, Horsmondon, Kent - Archaeology ...

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