"The Chronicles of a Country Parish" - A village appraisal of Sulgrave published in 1995

CHURCH STREET
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Ivy Cottage is an early 19th century cottage of random rubble limestone, originally thatched but now with a tiled roof, and brick chimneys. Most of the old windows have been replaced with timber casements. On the west wall there is a firemark, but this is from a building elsewhere. Behind Ivy Cottage is Dove Cottage, of the same period, with some brownstone in the mainly pale limestone walls; the red brick chimneys are on stone bases. In the 1950s, asbestos slates replaced the thatch. Some of the original timber casement windows remain, the rest being of steel.


Pear Tree Cottage

Grafton Lodge is a 1970s brick bungalow with rear and side gable walls rendered with "bag" finish, the chimneys also being rendered. In 1991 an extension with walls in stone was built on the front. The roof is interlocking tiles; the casement windows have timber frames.

Church Cottage was an 18th century thatched cottage, in random rubble stonework. In the 19th century a red-brick wing was added to accommodate a grocer's shop; here also was the village laundry and, later, the Post Office. When the shop was converted to residential use, the shop window was replaced with a square bay window with a flat lead roof. The casement windows have blue brick arches. The main roof is now of blue slate, and the chimneys are of brick.


Church Cottage

The Old Forge House and The Old Forge were until 1974 the home and workshop of the village blacksmith; the original forge itself is still in situ. Horses were shod in the small building across the street. The house is of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, of random rubble limestone, with a steeply pitched roof characteristic of Northamptonshire. Tiles have now replaced the thatch, and in the gable wall it can clearly be seen that the roof has been raised to allow greater headroom. Conversion to two dwellings took place in the mid 1970s. The window frames are recent, of square stained pine. Behind the Old Forge House, an outbuilding was converted into a small bungalow in the 1980s.

The Old Post Office (in use as such from the 1950s until 1979) and Alcon Cottage are a pair of 19th century brick-built cottages, with slate roofs and timber casement windows.

Until the late 1960s The Six Bells was one of the three public houses in the village. There was also a large assembly room, reached by a separate staircase. The original 17th century structure, of Eydon sandstone, was thatched, with brick chimneys; there is a beer cellar under. The roof is now tiled, and the timber window casements are modern. In 1988/89, a section was demolished and a re-aligned larger addition, with a double garage, built in similar stone.

Pear Tree Cottage is also of the late 17th century, of random rubble limestone. The thatch was replaced by slates in the early 1900s. The chimneys are of brick. The house was modernised in the late 1970s, with new timber casement windows.

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