Building record BSM 098 - Malting Cottage, Nayland Road

Extending to just 9.3 m in length by 4.1 m in width the cottage is of considerable historic interest as a rare early-19th century artisan’s dwelling. It is unlikely to have pre-dated its appearance on the tithe map by more than a decade or two. In addition to its rear lean-to it contained a hall-come-kitchen on the right with a large cooking fireplace, and a diminutive parlour of just 3 m in length with a smaller fireplace on the left. Both rooms were reached by a lobby entrance opposite the central chimney, and an ostensibly original stair in the corner of the hall led to a pair of chambers contained largely in the slope of the roof. The wall studs, ceiling joists and rafters consist of exceptionally small, waney timber and the structure was evidently built as cheaply as possible on a section of roadside waste ground extending to one tenth of an acre. Although once common in the local landscape, particularly in the poorer regions of the Essex coastal and heath lands, thatched and weatherboarded vernacular structures of this kind were particularly prone to rebuilding and unsympathetic extension before the advent of modern planning regulations. In consequence they are now rare in anything resembling their original form. Malting Cottage survived largely unchanged until the mid-1990s, retaining the same outline as in 1837 apart from the replacement of the possible blacksmith’s workshop with a detached wash house and a small garage (S1).