Description

NYMET ROWLAND
SS 70 NW
2/49
- Hele Farmhouse
- II

Farmhouse. Early C17; probably C18 extension; modernised, rearranged and enlarged
in mid C19. Main block of plastered cob on rubble footings, C19 rear block of
exposed local stone rubble; stone rubble stacks, one disused, the other with C20
brick top; interlocking concrete tile roof (formerly thatch).
L-shaped building with 3-room main block facing south-east. The early Cl7 house
comprised the central and left (south-western) rooms with a large axial stack
between serving back-to-back fireplaces and front lobby entrance. The third room
was probably added on right (north-eastern) end in C18. Its end stack was
rearranged in the C19 with the upgrading of the C18 room and the insertion of a new
front door, entrance hall and stair at right end of central room. The rear block
containing service rooms and stores was probably added at the same time at right
angles to rear of the left room and may have replaced an early C17 service wing. 2
storeys.
Regular and nearly symmetrical 5-window front of circa 1970 casements with glazing
bars. The left end ground floor window replaced circa 1984 by a PVC casement with
glazing bars. Both doors also circa 1984. Roof and rear block are gable-ended.
The rear also contains circa 1970 casements with glazing bars and on the inner side
of the rear block a flight of external stone stairs lead to a first floor doorway.
Interior. The early Cl7 section is quite well-preserved. Both fireplaces here are
blocked by C20 grates but the originals are said to survive. The central room has a
large crossbeam with broad soffit-chamfers and truncated pyramid stops. The left
room has a 12-panel intersecting beam ceiling with soffit chamfers. The original
roof over these 2 rooms is mostly intact, comprising A-frame trusses with pegged
dovetail lap-jointed collars and carrying 2 sets of threaded purlins. Disused
mortises on the underside of the principal rafters suggest that the trusses originally
were supported by upright posts set into the cob walls.
The C18 addition room has a soffit-chamfered and runout-stopped crossbeam but the
fireplace here is blocked and the roof is inaccessible. Most of the joinery
throughout the main block is C19. The right room (the C18 addition) has panelled
window shutters, and the doorway through the cob crosswall from that room to the C19
entrance hall has panelled reveals. The stairs have stick balusters. All the doors
off the first floor corridor are C19.

Listing NGR: SS7135208594

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26400421

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

• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)