The investigation took place in February 2013. The two properties were found to contain five discreet phases of construction. The earliest features on the site were three potentially Mediaeval coursed rubble and ashlar stone walls surviving to first floor height. One of these stone walls related to the northern boundary enclosure of the King’s Houses royal palace which lay to the south of the site between the late 12th to 15th centuries.
The other two walls may relate to contemporary structures built gainst this boundary. A single brick post-Mediaeval cottage was constructed prior to 1766 against the north elevation of the earlier boundary wall as tenant accommodation for agricultural labourers on the Welbeck Estate. By the early 19th century this cottage had been extended to the east.
Mercian Archaeological Services invited James Wright as a private archaeological consultant to investigate and record Brammer Farmhouse and Arundel Cottage, Mansfield Road, King’s Clipstone, Nottinghamshire, NG21.
The cottage to the east was known as Brammer Farmhouse by the 1880s and also functioned as a village shop from the early 19th century, run in turn by the Jepson, Brammer and Bradley families. Less is understood about the history of the cottage to the east which is now known as Arundel Cottage.
In 1895 the Welbeck Estate extended Brammer Farmhouse to the west and south in order to provide further accommodation for James and Hannah Bradley’s family, and the site was divided into two properties. The site passed into private ownership in 1945. Arundel Cottage was then extended to the south during the early 1970s.The site retains much of its vernacular appearance and contains important survivals of in situ Mediaeval masonry relating to the King’s Houses royal palace.
Standing Building Survey Report: Brammer Farm House & Arundel Cottage
