Pear Tree Cottage Eggington

Pear Tree Cottage January 2013

Pear Tree Cottage was listed by the former Department of Environment in September 1980 as Grade II, of special interest. It dates from the 18th century and is built of red brick, with some yellow brick in the centre at the front, comprising two storeys beneath an old clay tiled roof. Some timber-framing is visible on the left hand gable.

The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 specified that every building and piece of land in the country was to be assessed to determine its rateable value. The valuer visiting [DV1/C174/46-47] noted that the property was owned by Miss A. F. S. Sunderland and occupied by Rev. James Sunderland (vicar since 1892) who paid £8 per annum, though he lived at the Vicarage, now the White House. At that date Pear Tree Cottage was divided into two suggesting that it had been two cottages.

The western portion comprised a room downstairs with two above and was derelict, the whole being used as a store. A part lean-to weather-boarded, tiled and corrugated iron shed used for lumber and an old railway carriage (“derelict”) also used for lumber both stood outside.

The eastern portion comprised one room up and one down and was also in poor condition. The valuer opined: “Could not be lived in”. It was also used for storage “and various parish meetings”.