File:Coachmans Cottage, Bishops Offley. ST21 6ET - geograph.org.uk - 285377.jpg

English: Coachmans Cottage, Bishops Offley. ST21 6ET Coachmans Cottage is an example of early timber frame construction, originally a "two up two down" with a large central chimney stack, It would have been a modest farm workers cottage, and is likely to have been one of the few original dwellings in the village. During the late 1830s, it has been suggested that the newly renamed Coachmans Cottage was formally incorporated into the Bishops Offley Manor Estate, to coincide with the construction of the Coach House, the Shop and the modification of other estate properties. During the 1830s reconstruction phase there is evidence to suggest that Coachmans Cottage was also re-roofed, whereby the original thatch was replaced by Staffordshire Blue handmade plain tiles of the time, whilst unusually retaining the 60 degree roof pitch. Other Victorian additions included a single storey kitchen extension to the rear and in the garden, an outside toilet and pigsty. Largely unchanged, the early 1980s saw a further extension above the kitchen to give the property a third bedroom and upstairs bathroom. Whilst in 2005 the property gained the addition of a half-timbered double garage using Victorian roof tiles and bricks specially chosen to reflect mellow red tones of local handmade bricks. Today Coachmans Cottage is an attractive example of early architecture. With sympathetic additions and extensions, it is one of an interesting array of cottages and houses, which make up the attractive and popular West Staffordshire Village of Bishops Offley. See www.bishopsoffley.co.uk for more village information.