NHER 59568 (Building record) - Marshman's Cottage adjacent to Old Hall drainage mill

February 2013. Field visit.
A ruined marshman's cottage (named Bure Cottage on (S1)) is situated to the northwest of a ruined drainage mill (HER 10386). These two buildings stand in an isolated location beside the River Bure, 0.75km to the southsouthwest of Stokesby Hall .

The cottage comprises the main body of the house, an integral northern lean-to extension and a small extension at the north-western corner. The two extensions are one storey high, with the main body of the house one-and-a half storeys high. An internal wall divides the lean-to into two rooms.

All internal and external walls are of brick. They are in poor condition, with collapsed sections and substantial cracks present in all elevations of main body of the house and the lean-to. There are metal ties in the western elevation of the main body of the house. There are three external doorways, with one in each of the southern elevation of the main body, the northern elevation of the lean-to and the north-western extension. A doorway links the main body and the lean-to. There are window openings at ground floor level in the southern elevation of the main body of the house and the northern elevation of the lean-to. There is one second-floor window opening in both the western and eastern elevations of the main body of the house. A window frame remains in the window in the western elevation. The doorways and surviving window openings have wooden lintels. Parts of a brick arch and wooden feature survive above the doorway in the southern elevation. A wooden doorframe remains in the doorway between the main body and the lean-to. The collapsed wall section in the southern elevation is located directly above a window opening . It is likely the loss of the window and window frame have led to collapse above.

Although roof timbers survive in the main body of the house, only patches of the former thatch covering remain. Many of the iron rods that would have held that thatch in place survive. At least two branches have been used to hold up roof timbers. The roofs of the lean-to and the north-western extension have almost entirely collapsed. The roof of the lean-to was covered in thatch, while the extension had a pantile covering.

Inside a wooden staircase (with an under-stairs cupboard), part of a brick chimney and fireplace and a brick structure survive against the western wall of the main body. With the insertion of a fireplace, the chimney appears to have been altered at some point after its construction. The purpose of the brick structure is uncertain. Joists for the first floor survive. Nails that would have held a ceiling to them survive. There is evidence for plaster and yellow paint downstairs in the main body of the house, with evidence for plaster and blue paint upstairs and in the lean-to. The inside of the north-western extension is plastered.

The main part of the house and northern lean-to date to the 19th century. The small toilet extension on the northwest is of later (20th century) date. The cottage would have provided living accommodation for a marshman and his family. The marshman would have been employed to tend livestock, manage ditches and maintain the adjacent drainage mill.
D. Robertson (HES), 8 April 2013