(Fleet Cottage)
(Grade II listed in 1956)
(Grade II listed in 1956)
The Inventory describes the house as "having original 17th-century stone-mullioned windows and a doorway with a four-centred head". The Appreciation calls it "delightful", then spoils the effect by adding "link to barn ... out of character, spoils charming rear elevation". The writer is, of course, talking about the barn that is now Chapel Lane Stores, and not casting any aspersions on this house or its outbuildings. He tries to redeem the faux pas by noting the "rear splendid windows in thatch", but didn't notice the "salt box", the part of the building that was used to salt down fish that were once caught in their thousands off Chesil Beach.
The thatch has been renewed several times since the Appreciation photograph, when it certainly seemed in need of a new "haircut". Apparently the life expectancy of Abbotsbury thatch (usually in the region of 30-50 years, with a ridge replacement every 10 years) depends as much on the activities of the local nesting birds as it does on the climate and the skill of the thatcher.