Found an old photo!

[carozd]

Found in a local history book, I think it's saying my house (buying at the mo) is the one pictured here - if so I'm wondering when a new dormer was added. The right of the house has a step up in floor levels at both ground and first floor which would lead me to think extension+new dormer when they redid the roof, but the beam across the whole ground floor seems not to have been extended (guess I'll see when we strip the paint off!). The windows give an idea of what to aim for when we replace the aging PVC faux lead ones.

I'm guessing from the clothing that the photo is 1900 ish, and we've had guesses of early 1800s (surveyor) mid 1800s (local restoration guy 1) and late 1800s (local restoration guy 2). Any advances in house dating ideas welcomed! Link to internal photos for anyone interested https://www.cheffins.co.uk/residential/property/3-bed-church-lane-isleham-cb7-33225145?s-location=isleham

 

[Kearn]

Photos before 1850 would be highly impressive!

I’d be leaning more towards 1900s.

The text states the pink Cottage replaced a previous one?

I’m seeing inconsistencies in the surroundings (doesn’t mean changes haven’t occurred!) - - - central house in old photo has a gable to road building very close to left of image with large stack on the gable end, not in modern photo
- central house in old photo looks to have a gable end stack just out of shot to the right, but oddly looks weather boarded, maybe a animal shelter/barn attached. Nothing there in New image, although the white building could have potentially once been connected…
- hard to see if the central building has a chimney stack, could be just out of shot

Slightly differing perspectives and focal lengths can play tricks!!

If you have a local history society, they may well have historic info/images, and Google can be your friend - Francis Firth has a large online database of historic images. Try eBay too for old postcards

 

[carozd]

Sorry I meant my guess at the photo is from the early1900s and the house estimates ranged from early to late 1800s The new photo white building is definitely modern, so likely is the replacement for that building in the right foreground of the old picture, and the house to the very left has been demolished (new build set back from the road). I suspect the chimney stack is just out of shot/hidden by dormer. This is from the book of the local history society, sadly the author died last year so I can't ask him what he meant as his writing isn't very clear unfortunately and I suspect 'replaced' doesn't mean 'rebuilt'. The photos old/new are his juxtapositions on the same page of the book (to the right of the text). Have been googling but will try ebay, thank you!

 

[Kearn]

From the Floorplan, I would have said the snug and end bedroom weren’t part of the original plan. However, the spine beam does appear to span both spaces implying the opposite. Hard to tell whether the studs visible are part of an old external wall or internal partition, possibly even plank and muntin - are there any round or rectangular holes on the underside of the timber the other side of the spine beam to indicate previous studs/staves on that side?

There’s a couple of sizeable fireplaces hidden away there too…

 

[carozd]

Will look for those clues when we move in- as the brickwork under the open studs seemed modern I thought they might be a faux modern addition- more detective work is needed in person though as yes the floor heights are pro- the extension idea and the main beam might say nay to that. I’m both tempted to hack away at the fireplaces to see what’s there but worried about leaving myself with an unusable pile of rubble with nothing to show for it!

 

[carozd]

Just thought - the weatherboarded gable could have been turned into a matching dormer window - someone in a local group says that a chap in the 70s renovated ‘a pair of cottages’ which is now the single pink building. Could have been the main house and the outbuilding…. That would explain many things (single beam, but different floor heights and change in right hand elevation.

 

[Kearn]

Side by side georeferenced maps viewer - Map images - National Library of Scotland

Looks like your snug may have been part of next door turn of last century. It’s an odd arrangement of divided buildings on a courtyard shape set back from the road, reminds me of a functional yard, maybe some agricultural use, or lodging for the pub for people/horses.

 

[carozd]

Very interesting! Great find thank you! The house is very much fronting the (narrow one track) lane and going on the church wall and how wide a carriage is I think the roadway hasn’t changed at all (and older maps show dwellings fronting the road in the same places). Yes that fits with the recollection of ‘joining a pair of cottages’ in the 70s also - it may have been a cottage and an additional linked building originally, now one dwelling. Fascinating!

 

[carozd]

As info the pub at the back is listed and 17th century. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1126438?section=official-list-entry

The census records for Church Lane in the 1800s don’t give house numbers or names but seem to number around 4 properties for the Lane with families or couples mostly agricultural labourers and similar, with some surnames remaining the same across census periods, suggesting homes rather than lodgings.

 

[carozd]

Current fireplaces- with the thin one with the wood burner we will be re plastering that room asap from modern into lime for damp reasons so a good opportunity to knock off the plaster and see what’s there. The wider brick one I’m more nervous about taking out - gas fire (unconnected at present) with a previous back boiler system I believe. The chimney stack is incredibly wide even on the first floor - takes up a huge chunk of room!

 

[carozd]

1973 photo. By this time the cottage was rendered and a couple of years after the 3rd dormer was added.

 

[Cubist]

Current fireplaces- with the thin one with the wood burner we will be re plastering that room asap from modern into lime for damp reasons so a good opportunity to knock off the plaster and see what’s there. The wider brick one I’m more nervous about taking out - gas fire (unconnected at present) with a previous back boiler system I believe. The chimney stack is incredibly wide even on the first floor - takes up a huge chunk of room!

View attachment 15353View attachment 15354

The fireplace in the second picture is largely a phoney unless the flue behind make a hard dogleg to the left - for obvious reasons the bresummer beam directly above the fire cannot penetrate the chimney stack.

 

[carozd]

The chimney rising through the house is broadly symmetrical and that beam seems to be central in both rooms. I have no clue how it might be built as the fireplaces either side are positioned broadly the same - directly underneath it!

 

[a twig]

I wonder if that beam isn’t a steel that’s been clad in timber and made to look like a beam. It’s a very hefty bit of timber otherwise!

 

[carozd]

It seems to be wood and original to me (entirely lay person) from the positioning and slight wiggles and nothing from the surveyor or local restoration chap to say different but what would I look for to find that out?

 

[a twig]

It seems to be wood and original to me (entirely lay person) from the positioning and slight wiggles and nothing from the surveyor or local restoration chap to say different but what would I look for to find that out?

If you peer closely at where the corners are chamfered you may be able to see a join line, as if it is the case it will have been made up as two sides and a bottom.

My parents had a steel put in to support an ailing floor back in the 80s and had it clad in oak, the chap that did it was a very good carpenter and you really need to look closely, most visitors think it is a genuine huge oak beam.

Other options to find out - use one of those very strong fishing magnets and see if there is an attraction, or nuclear choice, drill into it and see if you hit steel

 

[a twig]

The fireplace in the second picture is largely a phoney unless the flue behind make a hard dogleg to the left - for obvious reasons the bresummer beam directly above the fire cannot penetrate the chimney stack.

Worth bearing in mind if the wall is >250mm thick there’s plenty of meat to land a beam into a pocket and still keep separation from a flue.

 

[carozd]

Magnet seems the easiest choice! Good call! I guess a hefty beam wouldn’t be super unexpected either and either way the original beam clearly hits the chimney middle so will be interesting to see how it all works together!

 

[carozd]

Worth bearing in mind if the wall is >250mm thick there’s plenty of meat to land a beam into a pocket and still keep separation from a flue.

Oh yes it’s thick I think!

 

[Kearn]

1973 photo. By this time the cottage was rendered and a couple of years after the 3rd dormer was added.View attachment 15368

Ah, there’s the barn!!