Towards the end of his life, probably around 1425-1430, James Cottrell retired to a country estate (Figure B.3) quite clearly as “landed nobility”. At Eyreira he built (or occupied) a house (still standing although largely in ruinous condition (Figure B.3) and the honours he had received from the royal family, which had been registered in the Torre do Tombo (national archive), page 34 of the armory book, are on the wall (Figure B.4.) The date of his death is not recorded, but it must have been somewhere around 1435. A “Quinta” is a country property, often surrounded by trees, with agricultural land and generally a domestic house. A “Souto” is a plantation of cultivated chestnut trees, and “Eyreira” is a small “aldeia” (village) in the county of Ferreira de Zêzere, near Santarém, just south of Tomar. The Rio Zêzere is a major tributary of the Tagus (Téjo) river. The house has almost certainly been modified and at least re-roofed since James Cottrell's days:
Built into the wall (far top right corner in the above picture) are the arms assumed by James Cottrell
