See plans for historic Navenby cottage's future

Mrs Smith’s Cottage in Navenby is currently being restored by North Kesteven District Council following a successful bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

While work has started on site to remove the roof and assess the structural condition of the building, a lot of work has been taking place behind the scenes on how the venue should be when it re-opens in 2019.

Extensive consultation has been carried out, including visiting schools, groups and organisations, holding drop-in events and hosting an online survey which anyone could access, to find out what people would like to see at the cottage in the future.

The results of this will be on show with work taking place on the site’s conservation.

Conservator Paul Croft, from Lincoln Conservation at the University of Lincoln, will be on hand to explain and talk how wallpaper and paint samples, which could pre-date Mrs Smith herself, are being conserved.

Anyone interested in finding out about this can pop along to the council’s Navenby office in North Lane between 10am and 6pm on Thursday, October 12, where they will be able to see photos and plans as well as talk to staff from NKDC who are working on the cottage.

It is hoped the timing of the event will allow people as much opportunity as possible to attend.

Free tea and coffee will be available for anyone going along.

You can keep up to date on the project by visiting www.mrssmithscottage.com

Regular updates are posted on to the project’s Instagram account. www.instagram.com/mrssmithscottage

For further information, email [email protected] or call 01529 414155.

○ With walls only a single brick thick and the only modern innovations an inside toilet, cold water tap and electricity, Mrs Smith’s Cottage offers a glimpse into life in a bygone age.

The museum is named after its last resident who lived there happily and independently until 1995, when she was 102 years old and who lived in the Cottage for some 75 years.

The building and the contents were preserved by the will and effort of local residents as something very special - displaying as they do the simple and contented life of a lady who had little time for modern innovations.

Typical of early to mid 20th century rural life, the old black range, a single cold water tap, period furniture, a washhouse and ladders to the bedrooms are all preserved as Mrs Smith used them until she died.