Description

LUPPITT
ST 10 SE
10/45 Higher Shelvin Farmhouse
-
- II
Farmhouse. C16 and C17, refurbished in the late C18-early C19 and again in 1987.
Plastered local stone and flint rubble, stone rubble stack topped with plastered
bricks; slate roof, originally thatch.
Plan and development: 5-room plan house facing south-east and backing onto the lane.
It is built across the hillslope. At the left (south-west) end is the present
kitchen but it has no chimneystack and therefore was probably some kind of store
formerly. Next to it is the entrance lobby containing the main staircase and with a
rear doorway. In the centre is the parlour (the former hall) and right of centre
another parlour. This second parlour was formerly a kitchen and an axial stack
between the former hall and kitchen serves back-to-back fireplaces. At the right
(north-east) end is an unheated room, the former dairy or buttery, and there is a
service staircase here. The present layout is essentially the result of the late
C19-early C20 refurbishment. However, it seems likely that the house was first
built in the C16 as some form of open hall house. The hall and inner room (now
converted to the entrance lobby) remain. The hall fireplace and ceiling are late
C16-early C17. The former kitchen has been so much rebuilt that the date of the
features is uncertain although it was probably converted from the original passage
and service end in the mid-late C17.
2 storeys with single storey lean-to outshots to rear.
Exterior: regular but not symmetrical 5-window front of C20 casements with glazing
bars, several of them iron-framed. There is no front doorway. The roof is hipped
both ends. Rear has 1987 timber casements with glazing bars and the main doorway
contains a C19 plank door.
Interior is largely the result of the late C18 - early C19 and C20 refurbishments.
Nevertneless late C16 - early C17. Features are exposed in the hall. Between the
hall and entrance lobby is an oak plank-and-muntin screen. On the hall side the
muntins are chamfered with step stops high enough to accommodate a bench below. The
hall fireplace has Beerstone ashlar jambs, an oak lintel and chamfered surround.
The ceiling here is 4 panels of intersecting beams with deep chamfers. The
parlour/former kitchen has a large stone rubble fireplace with a replacement timber
lintel. The crossbeam here and that in the present kitchen are 1987 replacements.
The roof was not inspected but the bases of straight principals show below the first
floor ceiling. Because of their low pitch for the slate roof they are thought to be
late C18 - early C19. In the rear wall, behind the hall/entrance lobby screen the
foot of a cruck post is revealed but the rest of the truss is boxed into the first
floor partition. The present roof is apparently higher than the original.

Listing NGR: ST1609204707

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26440649

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

• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings