Abandoned Tudor Cottage - Rayne, Essex

I found this recently. Not very accesable by car by easy by foor or bike and tucked away near the A120. Its in a bit of state the walls look very thin!

Probably wrong, but it looks like an old film/tv set to me.

The very fact that the thatch is protected by wire netting would indicate that the structure was originally intended as a proper dwelling for long term use; however, the brick footings and typical Victorian wall studs / lath and plaster would indicate the structure is not of Tudor origins. The use of expanded mesh certainly shows modern intervention at some period of the buildings existance. The timber work in Tudor buildings of this type was of a much more substantial construction and unless the building has been considerably altered in later years, I doubt the structure was built in Tudor times. The fact that the photographs do not show any typical Tudor timber work only reinforces my original doubts.

Very nice pictures. Good job.

Dirus_Strictus said:

The very fact that the thatch is protected by wire netting would indicate that the structure was originally intended as a proper dwelling for long term use; however, the brick footings and typical Victorian wall studs / lath and plaster would indicate the structure is not of Tudor origins. The use of expanded mesh certainly shows modern intervention at some period of the buildings existance. The timber work in Tudor buildings of this type was of a much more substantial construction and unless the building has been considerably altered in later years, I doubt the structure was built in Tudor times. The fact that the photographs do not show any typical Tudor timber work only reinforces my original doubts.

Click to expand...

How old would you say the place is?

i would say that no mater weather it is tudor, victrian, neolithic, modern or back from the future, its a lovely find. Well done.

the_historian said:

Probably wrong, but it looks like an old film/tv set to me.

Click to expand...

That's what it looks like to me too...it's got that 'staged' look about it. I don't know why but the footings look odd, and it looks far too flimsy to have withstood years of whatever the weather and time can throw at it.
Having said that...I think it's totally gorgeous. All mellow and delightful.

I think its adorable, shame to see all that thatch going to waste though and all the labour that went with it.

hnmisty said:

I think its adorable, shame to see all that thatch going to waste

Click to expand...

I once siad that statment to someone about something completely different and got a slap around my face lol!

spitfire said:

How old would you say the place is?

Click to expand...

From the stud and lath work that you have photographed, the indications are that this was originally a typical workers cottage of late Georgian / early Victorian origins. I suggest that you do an online search at old-maps.co.uk and see what is shown, then approach your local library and see if you can expand on the details. What is certain is that this building was never constructed with the intention of it gracing a film set, the exposed woodwork has a look of permanence about it that did not originate from a film set chippy. A newly thatched roof will last for many years, so there would be no need to also apply wire netting to the roof of a 'temporary' structure as seen here. I have mostly seen netting applied to conserve an old thatch, but have also seen netting applied to newly thatched roofs for extra protection in exposed situations

Couldn't possibly think why that might be, Spitfire...