Building record 1133200000 - THE ROOKERY, 102-4 BISHOPSTONE

Grade II. House, formerly two cottages, probably C18, witchert, rendered and painted, on stone base. Altered and extended C20. Thatched roof, 3 brick stacks, the southern one C20. Three eaves dormers to east side, two on west. C20 cross wing, also thatched, at south end. Door in angle, and second door and 2 windows to RH of east side (B1).
The Rookery seems to have been built originally as one house and only later divided into two cottages. The first witchert cottage may have comprised a 2 unit, single room depth house, with additional space in the upper storey, reached by a staircase or even a ladder. On the ground floor this would correspond to the current dining room and playroom. The property would have had a central fireplace, possibly of witchert, subsequently replaced by a brick stack. Dating for this first phase is difficult to establish - 1776 being the latest date for construction from documentary evidence, but it is possible it is much earlier, perhaps 17th century. A similar building in a nearby village is thought to be of this date. In Phase 2 the cottage was extended, adding an extra room on the ground floor to the north, corresponding to the current kitchen, and extra space upstairs, now the guest suite. A brick fireplace and chimney stack was added in the north gable. This may have been a second dwelling or an enlargement of the first. The cottage must have been divided by 1866 when it is described as two dwellings - with an internal wall dividing the northern extension from the original cottage. Between 1925 and 1974 a brick out-house was added to the north gable, which was rebuilt in 1975 as a utility room. This is when dormer windows were added to the house. In 1977 there was planning permission for a small southern cross-wing extension (B2).
This survey of a seemingly ordinary village "cottage" has revealed five phases of construction, demonstrated the often complex history of our vernacular buildings and provided a tangible link between this humble dwelling and 21st century Aylesbury through the person of Mr Joseph East, veterinary surgeon (B3).