Description

TL 73 NW TOPPESFIELD GREAT YELDHAM ROAD
South Side
3/19 Olivers Farmhouse
7.8.1952
GV II*

Manor house, late C16, altered in C19 and C20. Timber framed, plastered, roofed
with handmade red clay tiles. 4 bays aligned approx. E-W, aspect N, with
external chimney stacks at W end and to rear of second bay from W. One-bay
service range to rear of E bay, with end chimney stack. 2 storeys and attics.
2 boarded doors with plain lights over, 5 C20 casement windows on ground floor.
On first floor, 3 more, and 2 C19 cast iron casement windows. 3 gabled dormers
with one fixed light and one wrought iron casement in each, late C17/early C18,
and some early glass. The interior has heavy studding and jowled posts. All
the main frame members are chamfered with lamb's tongue stops. In addition,
the central posts of the 2-bay ground floor 'hall' have carved jowled heads.
This room has a binding beam, and twinned bridging beams in each bay, all
moulded, and the joists are of horizontal section, chamfered with bar stops.
The attic floor is original, with chamfered axial beams with lamb's tongue
stops. The roof is of clasped purlin construction with high arched collars
and arched wind bracing. The S ground floor fireplace has been rebuilt; that
above it has an original brick depressed arch. An estate map by John Bowra,
1738, in the possession of George Unwin of Toppesfield Hall, shows the house
with a rear stair tower at the W end of the 'hall', which is confirmed by
structural evidence. The storey heights are exceptional, 2.67 metres on the
ground floor, 2.46 metres on the first floor. A plaster shield of arms found
in the upper W wall is that of the Symonds family of Great Yeldham; Richard
Simon held it in 1627 (Morant). RCHM 14.

Listing NGR: TL7448036750

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17557235

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

• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living