Summary

This listed building is thought to have been built in the early 19^th century, possibly reusing materials from an earlier building which is shown on a map of 1779.

Deeds provide evidence of the owners and some tenants of the property since the late 17^th century when the property was owned by the Coldwell family whose descendents, through the female line, retained ownership after leaving the village until William Smart sold in 1802.  The property was then held by two generations of Elkins and three of the Bishop family before being purchased in 1878 by John Branson.  The Branson family still own and occupy the house.  Several members of the family have been builders and over the years they have extensively modified and extended the house from its original 2-room per floor, 3-floor layout.  Throughout the period, only a few acres of land was transferred with the house.

There is an unresolved inconsistency between the deeds and the architectural evidence.  The deeds clearly indicate that the property was divided into two cottages in 1833 and 1862, whereas the architectural evidence is that the existing house dates from the early 19^th century as a single dwelling.  Census returns are consistent with there being two families living in this area.  It is not clear whether the house could have been divided, or whether there may have been a second dwelling on the site, since demolished.

Branson family hand-down is that in 1870s John Samson, a veterinary surgeon, was working from this house, probably as a tenant.