Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Once and future comeliness ...


... in a district of tidy villas.

"A cursory glance at East End farm reveals that its antique aspect is the result of studied care which keeps at bay all signs of disintegration while preserving the marks of age. There are many new bricks amongst the old; buttresses discreetly support bulging, leaning walls; art has had more of a hand than nature in the disposition of the creepers and mosses which accentuate the picturesque irregularity of the old building. It stands as a reminder of  former comeliness in a district of tidy villas. Built on a slope, it dates probably from the 16th century, a timber frame filled with rosy brick nogging, and roofed with tiles of a particular rosy red. The chimney stack is of exceptionally fine workmanship." 

English Cottages and Farmhouses, Olive Cook, photographs by Edwin Smith, 1954. 

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