Description

SS 82 SE OAKFORD

4/139 North Esworthy Farmhouse
-

II

Farmhouse. Circa early C17 with some C18 remodelling or extension and early C19
alterations. Whitewashed rendered stone and cob; slate roof (formerly thatched),
hipped at ends; axial stack, projecting front lateral stack.
Plan: Single-depth main range 4 rooms wide with a single-storey rear lean-to and a 1-
room plan rear left wing at right angles to the main range. The historic plan is not
entirely clear: the 3 right hand rooms are evidently early C17. and opposed doors
suggest the possibility of a former cross passage which would indicate lower
end/kitchen to left and hall and unheated inner room to the right. However, this
would mean a very small hall. The left hand room could be an addition of the early
C18: it is heated by the axial stack but the date of this back to back arrangement is
unclear. The rear wing and lean-to containing service rooms are probably both C18
additions. The present entrance is into the rear wing, early C19 entrances on the
front, facing the garden.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 4 window front with a projecting front lateral
stack to the right of centre with an early C19 glazed verandah to the left on iron
posts with 2 pairs of early C19 French windows with glazing bars and 2 2-light
casements to the right, one C19 and one C20. The first has 2 2-light probably C18
casements, 8-panes per light, one on either side of a false window; first floor
window right is a late C20 plastic casement. The left return has a first floor stair
window with a round-headed light with glazing bars in a square-headed frame.
Interior: The 2 centre rooms have exposed scroll-stopped cross beams, the fireplace
to the lateral stack is partly blocked but probably conceals earlier features. The
adjacent room to the left has a massive open fireplace with dressed stone jambs and a
lintel that extends almost the entire width of the room. A large C19 bread oven
projects into what is probably a void on one side of the fireplace and a deep
cupboard on the other. On the first floor above this cupboard is a plastered walk-in
cupboard with a lime ash floor (q.v. Giffords in Bampton which has a similar
arrangement). The left hand room has a chamfered axial beam, probably of C18 date.
C17 chamfered stopped doorframe into first floor right hand room.
Roof: Side-pegged jointed crucks survive over the 2 centre rooms. Apex not inspected
but said not to be smoke-blackened.

Listing NGR: SS8728522515

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26400730

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)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)