Description

PETERSMARLAND
SS 41 SE
4/28 Week Barton
-
- II
Farmhouse. Circa 1500 with C16 and C17 alterations, extended and altered in the C18
and C19. Plastered cob walls. Gable-ended slate roof. 3 brick stacks - 2 axial
and one at left gable-end.
Plan: originally 3-room-and-through-passage plan, lower end probably to the right.
The house was built with an open hall which had a central hearth fire. A thick
full-height wall divides the lower room from the passage and it is likely to have
been floored from the start. Over the higher end the roof has been replaced and
there is no clear evidence of what the original arrangement was. Some time in the
C16 a chamber was inserted over the passage jettied out into the open hall. As its
partition is not smoke-blackened on the hall side it seems clear that the hall stack
was inserted at the same time at the higher end of the hall - an unusual arrangement
since it was was more customary to have a jettied chamber at the higher end of the
hall and a fireplace at the lower end. The hall was finally floored in the circa
early C17 and this may have been the date that the inner and lower room stacks were
inserted. In the C18 further alterations took place when the passage was blocked by
the insertion of a staircase and possibly at this stage an outbuilding was added as
an extension to the lower end. In the C19 and possibly early C20 outshuts were
added to the rear of the house . Further C20 modernisation incorporated converting
the outbuilding section into part of the accommodation.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 6-window front of late C20 PVC casements apart
from an early C20 3-light casement to left of centre on ground floor. C19 lean-to
to left and early C20 brick and glazed porch at centre with part-glazed door. PVC
French windows to right of centre with another lean-to C20 porch beyond.
Interior: exposed on the lower side of the passage is a small section of C17
panelling and it is possible that this exists on both sides. In the passage is a
good C18 dog-leg staircase with column newels, ramped handrail, carved tread ends
and small turned balusters, some of which have been replaced. Above the partition
in the hall is evidence of the jetty but the beam itself has been plastered over.
The hall fireplace has been altered in the C20 and the old lintel covered up.
Chamfered ceiling beam in hall and inner room. 2 good C17 studded doors with
chamfered cover strips survive and also some C18 2 panel doors. On the 1st floor
there is a C17 chamfered wooden doorframe.
Roof: over the passage one complete smoke-blackened truss survives with curved
feet, morticed cranked collar, diagonal ridge and threaded purlins. Over the hall
is another original truss whicn has had its apex cut off. The ridge continues
through the thick wall over the lower room but is not smoke-blackened there. Over
the higher end is a rough C18 or C19 truss with simply lapped collar. The jetty
partition at the lower end of the hall is constructed of thick well-finished studs
and there is no evidence of smoke-blackening on either side.
This house preserves interesting features from several periods with others possibly
still concealed and was evidently a house of some quality.

Listing NGR: SS4643112435

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26398536

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

• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)