Cheesemans Cottage

Cheeseman’s Cottage (formally known as Rose Cottage but now named after a previous occupier) is in part old (c1600s) and in part an early 1970s extension.

It is located directly on a quiet country lane overlooking farmland and Grimstone Downs. It is a non-smoking cottage with a big garden, much of which is laid down to grass – good for chidrens’ games – and is suitable for well-behaved dogs.

Pre Arrival:

Travel by car: Cheeseman’s Cottage is situated in Muckleford, a quiet hamlet which can be reached either from the A37 Dorchester to Yeovil Road, or from the A35 Bridport to Dorchester Road or along a back road from Bradford Peverell, the next village.

Therefore although the connecting road with the A37 is sometimes flooded in periods of continuous and heavy rain, the hamlet can always be accessed by one of the other two routes.

The best route from Dorchester is along the A37 in the direction of Yeovil. Approximately 5 miles from Dorchester, you will pass Stratton. After a further 500m there is a left turn to Muckleford. Go over the river Frome and very shortly after, take the next right at an unmarked crossroads. This takes you into the hamlet. Cheeseman’s Cottage is the second house on the right and the drive is beyond the cottage.

To access the hamlet by the A35 route take a half right turn signed Compton Valence off the A35 approximately three miles out of Dorchester. Shortly afterwards turn right at a small crossroads where the road is signed to Muckleford. Continue for around 1 ½ miles then turn left at a further crossroads into the hamlet. If coming from the Bridport direction, turn left after Winterbourne Abbas at the top of a steep hill and then continue for around 1 ¾ miles to arrive at the crossroads where the left turn is for the hamlet. The turn from that direction of the A35 is signed Muckleford.

Travel by public transport:

The nearest bus stop is in on the A37 at Grimstone around 20 minutes walk away. The 212 bus service goes to Dorchester, or Yeovil in the other direction.

The nearest train station is Dorchester 5 miles away (two stations) and there are taxis available at both. The nearest shops and supermarkets are also in Dorchester – Waitrose, The Co-op, Lidl and M & S are all in the centre and Tesco + garage on the ring road, at the turning to Weymouth. There is also a small Waitrose in Poundbury. All the main supermarkets offer delivery services.

Arrival & Parking:

Entrance to the cottage is on the further side of the cottage through a large wooden gate. This leads to gravelled parking area with room for 3 cars. The parking area is on a medium slope.

Property Threshold: The front door of the cottage is accessed across a lawn by means of a path of paving stones. The cottage is entered through a small porch with one step up from the garden path of 15cm. The width of the external door, which opens outwards and is hinged on the right, is 80cm and almost immediately there is a glass door on the right, width 88cm, leading to the sitting room. This door opens inwards to the sitting room and is also hinged on the right. The porch contains a high bar table and two stools.

Ground Floor:

There is a sitting room with inglenook fireplace and wood burning stove and an old baking oven. Seating consists of a three seater sofa and two armchairs. There is also a teak sideboard, the top drawer of which contains the main cutlery set, sundry small tables and footstools and a trolley on which is the television, and DVD. Stairs lead out of the sitting room to the upper floor. The cupboard to the left of the inglenook contains jigsaws and lots of games

Dimensions of room approximately 4.5 x 4.5m

On the same level a short passage leads to a small galley kitchen with a door opening inwards, 65 cm in width. The kitchen contains a fridge/freezer, electric double oven stove, washing machine, dishwasher, microwave, coffee machine, Magimix, kettle and toaster. There are storage cupboards above and below the work surfaces and a fan ventilator. There is also a good quantity of crockery and cooking equipment. The room dimensions are approximately 1.8 x 3m.

The dining room is situated beyond the kitchen and has a step down of 18cm. This contains an expandable Victorian mahogany table for 6 + chairs, a pine dresser containing large collection of vinyl mainly classical, with blue and white ornaments above, a piano, antique Pembroke table, antique corner cupboard with glasses, antique music stand, pictures and antique mirror. The room is approximately 4 x 4m. The wifi router is on the Pembroke table.

From the dining room, French doors lead to the garden with a single door width of 58cm and double door opening of 116cm. The car parking area can be accessed from these doors but there are two stone steps between of 20cm each.

First Floor:

Access to the first floor is by an open plan wooden staircase with handrail on one side and one turn to the right. There are 12 steps in total, each 19cm in depth and the width is 76cm.

On the first floor to the right is the Master Bedroom with a doorway width of 73cm. There is a low beam across the room with a height of 180cm. This contains a King size bed (150cm wide) with Memory Foam mattress and duvet, bedspread and pillows. There is good storage for clothes etc. plus a Camphor wood chest, antique chest of drawers and antique bureau. Dimensions of room 4.5 x 4.5m approximately.

The small bathroom has a doorway access of 66cm and contains a separate shower, (switch outside bathroom), bath, basin and toilet.There is a linen basket and clothes drying rack. Dimensions of room 1.5 x 3m approximately. The door opens inwards.

The second bedroom has a doorway width of 75cm and contains a double divan bed, with duvet, bedspread and pillows, bed side tables with lamps, wardrobe and chest of drawers, wash hand basin, pine chest, small bookcase, two mirrors and pictures. Room dimensions are approximately 4 x 4cm. Windows on two sides of the room give excellent views.

The old part of the cottage has low ceilings, and the master bedroom and bathroom have sloping ceilings.

Garden: Fenced and largely laid to grass. It is gently sloping and has a picnic table with integrated benches. There are also two wooden benches and deck chairs – the latter are stored in the cottage under the stairs during the summer. There is plenty of room for children to play.

Heating and hot water

These are provided by an oil fired boiler with the controls situated in the cupboard to the left of the inglenook in the sitting room and the roomstat to the left of the kitchen door.

There is also an Immersion heater on the tank in the airing cupboard for use in an emergency and a couple of electric fires in the same cupboard as the heating controls.

The heating/hot water will be on when you arrive.

Broadband

There is a broadband connection – router in the dining room. The name of the network is SKYZX2WU. The password is qKdtBRtcfnua. This is also shown on the base on the router.

Rubbish

Rubbish is collected early every Thursday morning. The bins and recycling containers are outside the garage.

Please ensure you put the appropriate bin outside the gate on Wednesday evening ready for the morning collection. Recycling and rubbish are collected alternately with food recycling collected every week. A calendar from West Dorset Council showing which collection is taking place is on the fridge

Dogs – Well behaved dogs are welcome. The garden is fenced all round but is sometimes breached by a visiting badger. We cannot guarantee it is escape proof.

Special notes;

Security:

Window locks – every window downstairs has the same window lock and there is a quantity of keys around the cottage

French windows – there are two keys for that door in the dining room on a hook on the dresser

Fire precautions – there are extinguishers on the landing and in the kitchen and a fire blanket in the kitchen. Please could you familiarise yourselves with how to use them. There are also smoke alarms on both floors and a carbon monoxide alarm by the wood burning stove.

Main bedroom.

Please could you always pull out the supporting arms when using the desk part (the lid) of the bureau.

Bathroom

The switch for the shower is outside on the landing.

Television – Programmes are accessed through an Amazon Firestick – there is a general remote to switch the TV on and off and a smaller remote specifically for the Firestick. The TV connection is HDMI1.

Gardening

This is carried out by Malcom Voss (lawn mowing) and Natalie and Kevin (general gardening).

Mice Like many country cottages, we do have rodents attempting to come in during the winter and therefore you will find sonar devices plugged in the cottage.

Insurance – please be aware that our household policy will not cover your possessions.