MDE1029 - Church House (later Hollowbrook Cottage), Martinhoe (Building)

SS 668 486 Southeast of Martinhoe churchyard and partly in it is a probable church-house. [1-2] SS 6681 4863 A site visit in June 1993 found a much altered Church House, renovated and in use as a dwelling. [3] Church house. A long stone building of two storeys, with its west side in the churchyard and its east side on the rear yard of the former rectory (now a guest house). Of rubble masonry with east side whitewashed. Stables at the southern end now entered from the rectory yard; above the doorways are eleven irregular pigeon holes. The house part at the northern end was formerly the dwelling of the groom attached to the rectory. The house has been modernised within. One or two exposed ceiling beams and roof springers remain. Fireplace has been reduced but the lateral chimney stack still remains. Windows are all late replacements. There is a little cobble paving before the front. [4] The Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division created a record card for this site. [5] Monument record reviewed as part of NRHE to HER pilot project. [6,7] Church houses allowed parishioners to rest and take refreshment after theirwalk to church. They became meeting places, acting as a parish hall and village pub. Martinhoe Church House may date from medieval times and backs onto the churchyard. It became Hollowbrook Cottage, converted for accommodation for the Rectory (now a guest house). When the building served the Rectory it was used for stables and accommodation for the groom. It retains an old chimney stack and eleven pigeonholes. [8] The building is depicted but not labelled on the 2020 MasterMap data. [9]