Abstract: |
Historic building recording was undertaken at 'The Cross' public house, Denham Way, Maple Cross, Hertfordshire, prior to its conversion into three residential units. Cartographic evidence suggests that the beerhouse originally consisted of a timber-framed two-storey cottage of late 17th or 18th-century date. Elements of the original timber frame survive, notably the wall plate on the south elevation, wall posts in the stairwell and rear wall, and the framing and plasterwork of the north gable, flanking the chimney stack. The roof structure above the earliest phase of the building consists of through purlins, corner braces and a single collar, with a steep pitch suggesting it was originally thatched. The rafters, probably birch, are all roughly halved, most with some bark remaining, and are of different scantling and centring. They are pegged to the purlins, which are hand sawn, waney-edged timbers, also of birch. The collar is a hand-sawn half timber, with bird beak apertures to accommodate the purlins. A one-bay extension with a lower roof was added to the north end of the existing building in the mid 19th century. Towards the end of the 19th century, the southern extension was constructed as a cart shed or store, and two canted bay windows were added to the frontage. In the first half of the 20th century, the southern extension became a part of the public house. At the rear of the building, the flat-roofed first-floor extensions are probably of early-mid 20th-century date. Between 1960 and 1977 a further two-storey bay in Fletton brick, with a canted bay window, was added at the north end of the existing structure, along with flat-roofed single-storey extensions to the north and east. |