Probable mid 18th century mud and stud cottage, with 19th and 20th century extensions and alterations, now divided into two distinct living units. The cottage is a single range, aligned north to south, and outwardly appears to be of brick construction, under a steeply pitched gabled tile roof with one large central stack and one smaller gable stack. The steep pitch suggests that the roof was once thatched. Both gables have small corbels. The north gable elevation has three phases of brickwork, including at the apex of the wall, likely relating to the creation of a gable to replace the original hipped roof. On the east elevation are two single storey modern extensions, a kitchen unit and a small porch, both built in red brick laid in Stretcher bond. The main elevation is built with a mixture of English Garden Wall and Flemish bonds. The south gable elevation has also been reskinned more recently in Stretcher bond. The building has undergone three main phases of alteration. The first, likely dating to around 1780, was the addition of a single storey addition to the north of the cottage, most probably built in a similar mud and stud fashion. This extension appears to have been to provide a new kitchen or buttery, which has since been divided with modern gypsum plaster interior walls. The second phase of alteration dates to the 1820s, and appears to have added a second parlour and enlarged the sleeping quarters on the first floor, suggesting that this may have been around the time that the interior was divided into two units. This phase of alteration appears to have been built initially in brick rather than mud and stud, and coincides with the third phase of building, which saw a brick shell encasing the earlier phases of cottage. Internally, few historic features remain extant. Within the northern unit, the original inglenook fireplace remains relatively unaltered, though a back wall has been added, presumably when the two halves of the building were separated. The passage through to the southern half, past the fireplace, has also been blocked. To the north a bathroom, utility room, and storage room were originally a single space. Hooks on the underside of the floor joists for hanging produce such as herbs and game. The position of the stairway here also appears to have been altered. On the first floor, the exposed chimney flue is visible, and some of the original cruck joists can be seen in the roof space. The southern unit has undergone significant internal alteration, with very few original features on the ground floor. The staircase to the first floor is modern, though the balustrade appears to be of Victorian design. The rooms on this side of the house are larger than to the north, reflecting their later construction. The original timbers of the central fireplace can also be seen here, although inserted modern machine-cut timbers indicate that the brick chimney stack above this point is a later replacement. A pond to the north of the cottage, seen on historic Ordnance Survey maps, was recently dredged and cleared. Clay deposits were found at the bottom of the pond, and it is possible that this is the source of the clay used in the construction of the original mud and stud building. The name 'Greenwood Cottage' appears to come from the family name of its former occupiers. Census data shows that a Thomas Greenwood, farmer, lived in North Owersby in 1841, and there are baptism records as far back as 1762, when a John Greenwood was baptised in the village. {1} Greenwood Cottage was assessed for listing by Historic England in February 2024, after plans for its proposed conversion back to a single dwelling were submitted. Whilst the building was of good local interest as an example of local vernacular building traditions, it was decided that the structure did not meet the criteria for listing; whilst retaining some interesting historic fabric (notably the surviving elements of mud and stud construction), it was felt that the substantial 19th and 20th century alterations and extensions had eroded the survival and legibility of the significant features of the structure overall. {2}{3}