Nether Alderly, Cheshire details

“To the great majority of the public, the study of architecture is generally of little interest, but these cottages of black-and-white, more especially those of Cheshire, have always found a place in the heart of the incorrigibly sentimental Englishman.

More generally known than those of any other counties [sic], they have been freely imitated with a wanton disregard for the real origin of their charm. The picture painter, the scene painter, the main in the street, the man who lives in the suburbs, and last but not least the speculative builder with romantic tendencies, are all united in their admiration; and truth to say, this lively preference for the obvious in cottage architecture is easier to understand than the attitude of the architect who rhapsodises over them, and yet on the first opportunity feebly plants on the plaster-work of his client’s house a few thin upright and cross pieces and dignifies it by the name of half-timbering. (p.” 63)