Building record 4205 - Fir Tree Cottage

Estate cottage dated 1865. Red brick with plain tile roof (1).

Estate Cottage. Dated 1865, By William Nesfield. Red English bond brick with fishscale tile hanging and a plain tile roof. Entrance front: projecting wing at right with a square bay window to the ground floor of four casement lights. Jettied first floor above this supported on moulded wooden brackets resting on stone corbels. The first floor is tile-hung with hammer-headed tiles which are bellcast to their lower edge. To the centre are two 2-light casement windows with a central cement panel between which is the size of one of the lights. This has incised pargetting with the date AD/1865 to the top and below it the initial C (Crewe) surmounted by a coronet. The balls of the barons coronet are formed of green glass bottlenecks and the panel has floral patterns to the outer edge. Half-hipped roof above with a massive three-flue chimney stack to the ridge. To the left of this wing and recessed is a lean-to porch with a basket arched doorway at right and a cusped lancet light to the left with bulls eye glass panes. The left hand side has a projecting wing at left with a 5-light ground floor casement window and above it a 4-light casement window to the first floor which is hung with hammer-headed tiles bellcast to their lower edge. The gable has incised pargeting showing sunflowers and foliage, a rising sun motif to the centre and pies to the apex. To the right of this projecting wing is the side of the lean-to porch which has two rectangular panels of incised pargetting showing floral motifs again set with bottlenecks and a bottle bottom of green glass which at the time of the resurvey (1985) had unfortunately been overpainted. Service court to rear (2).

<1> Liverpool University Field Archaeology Unit, 2000, An Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment of the Proposed A500 Basford-Hough-Shavington Bypass, 53 (Client Report). SCH4362.

<2> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 57142 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.