Description

TL 96 SE ELMSWELL ASHFIELD ROAD

5/23 Oak Farmhouse
15.11.54

-- II

Former farmhouse; late C15 or c.1500, with core early C14 or c.1300.
Alterations of c.1600. A rare but depleted example of a modest aisled hall
house. One storey and attics. 3-cell cross-entry plan. Timber-framed and
plastered. Pantiled roof, formerly thatched. An axial chimney of C17 red
brick. Early C19 casements. Boarded C19 door at cross-entry position with
gabled C19 open porch on posts. Interior: The earliest and most important of
4 main phases is a fragmentary survival from a modest aisled hall house of,
probably, c.1300. A closed aisled truss at the left hand end of the hall was
at the'lower' end, with semi-octagonal shafts rising to moulded capitals.
From these rise a pair of lap-dovetailed braces to a slender tiebeam. Above
the tiebeam is a gable entirely of wattle and daub without studding, but below
it is full close-studding - probably a C15 introduction. The arcade-plate at
the front wall (both aisles have been removed) has a straight brace from the
arcade post. It has evidence for two unequal bays in the hall, and for an
open truss braced only in the upper bay, not in the lower - a rare feature.
Also evidence for multiple tiebeams; over the cross-entry, and one either side
of the open truss (unequally spaced because of the unequal bay lengths). In
the late C15 the front wall was rebuilt beneath the arcade plate, with close-
studding. A cross-entry was formed at the right hand end, a close-studded
partition with a pair of 4-centred arched service doorways (one with its
original door remaining). The rear aisle remained at this stage. In the
front wall is the diamond-mullioned hall window. In late C16, a 1st floor was
inserted in the hall, with unchamfered joists laid flat, and an archbraced
tie-beam inserted beneath the two arcade plates at the open truss, in place of
the previous tie beam(s). In early C17, a parlour block was added to left of
the hall, with on-edge 1st floor joists and with back-to-back open fireplaces
in the hall and parlour. The service cell to right was also rebuilt, on a
tall plinth of narrow bricks, and reusing medieval timbers. Several blocked
diamond-mullioned windows. All roofs rebuilt, using clasped purlins. A
complete late C16 plank-and-muntin cross-passage screen is in the hall.

Listing NGR: TL9931864719

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26283878

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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