The curious case of the "out of place" Hansel and Gretel cottage
Empty 300-year-old home now looks conspicuously out of place on edge of huge depot and housing estate
In a village with over 5,000 years of history, it’s inevitable that the past and the present will sometimes collide.
Nowhere in Yarnton is that more jarringly obvious than the curious case of the little thatched cottage marooned on all sides by modern-day developments.
Once just one of a handful of dwellings bounded by fields, this 300-year-old home in Cassington Road now looks conspicuously out of place at the entrance to an electricity sub-station behind. To the front is a 20th century housing estate.
Known as Quainton’s Cottage after a large family of 12 who once lived there around 100 years ago, it now sits locked and empty, with no obvious plans on the drawing board for any future use.
Although now well-maintained, a Google Street View image from 2008 shows the front of the cottage completely obscured by ivy.
Its upkeep is now the responsibility of Scottish & Southern Electricity, but any major redevelopment or alteration would be difficult - the house has been Grade II listed since 1988, meaning it’s protected from any inappropriate work both inside and out.
According to Historic England, the single-storey cottage was once two homes. The outlines of two bricked up doors at either end can still be seen.
It’s constructed of coursed limestone rubble, with a steep gabled thatched roof, and a brick chimney stack. Inside are the original 18th century beams, while the plank door is from the 19th century, and the windows from the 20th.
The scene today has echoes of the 2009 Pixar cartoon Up! in which pensioner Carl Fredricksen’s quaint old Victorian home becomes dwarfed by skyscrapers.
And then there’s the infamous case of the M62 in Yorkshire having to be diverted around a farmhouse after its former owner refused to sell up.
Didn't know about the farmhouse on the M62 either - thanks!