Description

SOURTON
SX 59 SW

8/118 Lower Hewton
-

- II

House originally farmhouse. Circa 1500 with alterations and extension in C17,
possibly and further extended in C18 and C19. Rendered cob and stone rubble walls.
Gable ended concrete tile roof. 3 stacks; stone rubble axial hall stack,
projecting rubble stack at left gable end with C20 brick shaft and C20 brick shaft
offset from ridge at rear.
Plan: originally probably 2-room and through passage plan with hall to the right
open to the roof and heated by a central hearth; replacement of the lower room
roof timbers makes it unclear whether it also was open to the roof. A solid wall
which divides it from the passage is very thick on ground floor level but tapers
considerably to roof apex height - this may originally have been a low partition.
The hall may not have been ceiled until the mid C17 judging from the form of the
beams and a C17 spoon which was found in the hall ceiling - the date of 1658 in the
plasterwork on the first floor may relate to the flooring of the house. The newel
stairs were added in a projection at the front of the hall (integral with a porch)
when the floor was inserted and lead into the room above the hall so it seems
unlikely that the hall was ceiled later than the lower.room. It is possible however
that the hall fireplace pre-dates the ceiling. The arrangement of the lower room
fireplace and ceiling beam suggests they are contemporary of the circa mid-C17. In
the mid-late C17 the house was extended at the lower end by 1 room which is likely
originally to have been unheated and used probably for service purposes; it is
noticeably deeper than the original house; it had a fireplace added in the C18. The
outbuilding at the higher end of the hall is also probably C18. In the C19 outshuts
were added at the rear of the hall and passage.
2 storeys. Asymmetrical 5-window front. The right-hand end of the house is an
outbuilding and the integral porch and stair turret projects to the right of centre.
The 2 left-hand windows and the porch window to the first floor circa late C19 2-
light casements with glazing bars. Otherwise the windows are earlier C19 small-
paned 3-light casements. The porch is to the left of the stair projection under a
leanto roof and is open-fronted with a C19 panelled door behind. The stairs have a
very small light. To the left of centre is a C19 plank door leading into the lower
addition. Between the house and the outbuilding at the right end a straight joint
is discernible. The outbuilding has a doorway to the left with a loading hatch
above and a slit opening to its right. At the rear the lower right end of the house
projects and to the centre is a circa early C19 outshut.
Good interior has features from several periods. The original roof survives for 2
bays over the hall and passage and is smoke-blackened. The hall truss consists of
probably raised crucks with an unchamfered arch-braced morticed cranked collar, butt
purlins and morticed apex with threaded diagonal ridge. The wide bay at the higher
end of the hall is intersected by a cambered strengthening collar which has birds-
mouth joints to the purlins. The original common rafters also survive. Below the
passage the roof has been replaced in the C18 but a scarf joint to the original
ridge shows that it continued.
The hall fireplace has a high wooden lintel which is chamfered with worn stops. Its
granite jambs are roughly chamfered and it has an oven in the right-hand side. The
hall ceiling has 3 chamfered cross beams with wide bar and hollow stops. The
doorway to the stairs is of an unusual shouldered form with the shoulders set
considerably down from the door-head. The wooden newel stairs have probably had
their treads renewed. At the higher end of the hall is an C18 cupboard with moulded
door and surround and H-hinges. The lower room has an unusual arrangement of beam
and fireplace. The fireplace has 2 ovens and has been filled in on the right-hand
side to incorporate one of them. At the head of the newel stairs the chamber over
the hall has a C17 chamfered wooden door-frame with mason's mitres. The chamber
over the lower room has a small fireplace with a chamfered wooden lintel. Above it
is the date 1653 and initials I.A. in high-relief plasterwork. In the addition at
the lower end the fireplace has a plain C18 wooden lintel but a chamfered and
stopped window lintel suggests that the room pre-dates the fireplace.
A number of the rooms retain their old limewash to the walls. The floors to the
passage and hall are of lime-ash and on the first floor the old wide floorboards
survive.
The house retains a variety of interesting features from different periods and
remains very unaltered internally and externally since the C19.

Listing NGR: SX5068092952

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26400138

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

• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version