Description

CHRISTOW
SX 88 SW
5/77 Hill
9.10.80
GV I
Former farmhouse. A medieval house of at least 2 phases, remodelled in the C17.
Colourwashed rendered stone rubble and cob; thatched roof, gabled at left end, hipped
at right end of main block, gabled at end of wing, the thatch replaced with slate to
the front of the ridge both of the main block and wing ; left end projecting stack
and axial stack to main block, end stack to wing.
Plan: L plan : the main block, facing east, 2 rooms and a through passage, lower end
to the left (south) with a front right (north) wing 2 rooms on plan at right angles
to the hall. Complex evolution. The present plan form is largely that of the late
mid medieval period (Laithwaite) : the hall (still unfloored) to the right, stack
backing on to the passage ; lower end parlour to the left with a fine heated first
floor chamber above and a kitchen wing, to the front of the hall, partitioned into
two. A stair rises from the passage against the front wall, giving access to the
room over the parlour ; stair against front wall of wing ; third stair (a C20
replacement) adjacent to the hall stack. 2 medieval roofs exist over the hall : the
lower roof over the hall earlier, the higher roof also sooted, indicating a
rebuilding of the lower end in the medieval period (before the insertion of the hail
stack). The circa late C16 kitchen wing was predated by a narrower, earlier medieval
wing. Probably in the C16 the hall stack was inserted, backing on to the passage,
although it has been suggested (Schofield) that this was preceded by a smoke hood and
the granite ashlar back of the stack may have originated as a freestanding wall
against which the open hearth fire was placed. In the circa late C16 the lower end
was remodelled as a high quality parlour with good plasterwork on the ground floor
and a similarly decorated heated chamber above. The medieval front right wing was
enlarged, raised and re-roofed, probably in the C16. Rear outshuts to the hall and
parlour are later additions and now roofed with corrugated iron. 1970s repair has
involved some refenestration, the removal of post C17 partitioning in the kitchen
wing and the reconstruction of the kitchen chimney shaft.
Exterior: 2 storey except the hall, which is ceiled below the collars of the trusses.
Asymmetrical 2 window east front, the kitchen wing projecting to the front at the
right (north) end. Wide panelled door to the through passage to right of centre with
a slate canopy carried on moulded timber brackets. 2- and 3-light C19 or C20 timber
casements with glazing bars except ground floor left which is a C17 3-light timber
mullioned windows with ovolo- moulded mullions, leaded panes and internal iron
stanchions. The inner return of the wing has a doorway in the centre giving access
to the kitchen ; 2 first floor 2-light timber casements with glazing bars and one
ground floor window. The outer return of the wing has one small square ground floor
window to the left (east) and a 3-light C17 timber mullioned widow to the right with
chamfered stopped mullions. The rear elevation of the main block has a tall 3-light
timber casement with glazing bars to the left; the hall outshut has a small, probably
C18, 1-light window in the return ; the parlour outshut a 2-light window. The gable
of the lower (parlour) end has 1 ground floor and 1 first floor 1970s mullioned
window.
Interior: Outstanding, both for the survival of the medieval plan form and for
carpentry, plasterwork and other features. The granite ashlar back of the hall stack
is exposed in the passage with a hollow-chamfered plinth, the granite cornice
associated with this feature shows above the ceiling of the passage. The lower end
partition of the passage, which has probably been moved, is timber with plaster
infill. Good C17 plank and stud door with strap hinges to the stair leading off the
passage. The hall, which has never been floored, is remarkable : plastered up to the
collar level of the face-pegged jointed cruck truss, the feet of which extend to
ground level. The purlins and part of the hip cruck are visible but plastered-over.
Large open fireplace with a chamfered granite lintel and jambs, neither jamb tied
into the masonry of the fireback, C19 bread oven. A C19 dado extends round the rear
right corner of the hall with fixed bench for a table in front of the hall window. A
heavy oak beam extending from the stack to the front wall of the hall may have been
part of a timber smoke hood (Schofield). The lower end parlour has an open fireplace
with ovolo-moulded granite jambs and an ovolo-moulded stopped timber lintel. The
ceiling is divided into 2 sections by a plastered over crossbeam, plaster cornice,
good decorated plaster ceiling on the fireplace side of the crossbeam with moulded
ribs enriched with floral sprays. A recess adjacent to the fireplace contains a
drain and appears to have been a domestic piscina. The kitchen is partitioned into 2
by an incomplete plank and muntin screen with doorway with a cranked lintel ;
chamfered, step-stopped crossbeam with exposed joists ; large open fireplace with a
chamfered timber lintel and, formerly, 2 bread ovens : the surviving oven is granite-
lintel. The chamber over the parlour has a fireplace with ovolo-moulded granite
jambs and ovolo-moulded timber lintel with painted marbling, possibly of C17 date ;
decorated plaster ceiling with moulded ribs with floral sprays and a moulded plaster
cornice. A closed truss divides this room from the room over the passage with a
doorway with a door with a good C17 lock. The room over the passage has wide oak
floorboards, a keeping place on the rear wall and the granite cornice of the rear of
the hall stack is exposed above the floorboards ; blocked doorway in the closed
truss. 2 rooms over the kitchen wing, the room at the outer (east) end has a
fireplace with plain timber lintel.
Roof: The lower of the 2 roofs over the hall is the earliest : probably C15 with a
face-pegged jointed cruck truss ; apex LIE type (Laithwaite), complete with sooted
rafters, battens and thatch. Between the present kitchen wing and this hall roof a
sooted ridge and rafters with sooted thatch indicate the wing that predated the
kitchen wing - this part of roof concludes in a ruinous closed truss with section of
sooted wattle and daub with infill, separated by a void from the westernmost truss of
the present kitchen wing which is wider and higher than its predecessor. The hall
roof has been raised by a second sooted ridge fixed to the sawn off earlier ridge by
a birdsmouth post : this ridge continues over the lower end with a closed side-pegged
jointed cruck truss (E apex) over the lower end partiton of the passage. This
truss is sooted on both sides indicating 2 open hearths. Surviving rafters are
heavily sooted and, although not accessible at time of survey, are known to extend
the full length of the lower end. The kitchen wing has 2 collar rafter trusses with
lap-dovetailed collars with straight, principal rafters the eastern truss closed to
form the partition between the 2 rooms.
The house was repaired in the 1970s by the SPAB Lethaby scholars under the direction
of John Schofield.
A house of outstanding interest. Group value with adjacent barn to the south and
threshing barn to east.
Unpublished notes and comments by Michael Laithwaite and John Schofield have been
used in this description.

Listing NGR: SX8353184246

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17527251

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.

Recommended Books

• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)