The cottage is one of four dwellings in the village which are categorized as “Mud and Stud” and come under the heading of earth-based buildings.
Two main types are found – those buildings with solid earth walls, often with stone aggregate fragments; and those with earth covering a timber frame, ‘wattle and daub’ being probably the best known technique. In Lincolnshire however, we have a similar but unique form of construction known as ‘mud and stud’ . The main features of a typical mud and stud cottage are:
– over 70% have a central chimney stack
– most have a central door and lobby entry
– half-hipped thatched roof is traditional
– no exterior timber framing revealed
– large percentage have a later brick skin and pantiled roof
There are over 250 M & S buildings across Lincolnshire, roughly 150 of these being listed as Grade 2. Two good examples will be found at Church Farm Museum, Skegness and another at the village of Little Steeping. Both these are examples of dismantled cottages which have been re-erected.
(Taken from ‘Lincolnshire Buildings in the Mud and Stud Tradition by Rodney Cousins. ISBN 0948639 30 X)
Edwin Greenwood, blacksmith, with wife Matilda and son Billy