Description

ST GILES
SS 51 NE IN THE WOOD
8/201 Whiteleigh Barton including dairy
16.1.52 and stone walls adjoining to south
(previously listed as Whiteleigh
Barton in Roborough parish)

II

Farmhouse. Probably C16 origins, mid and late C17 modernisations, enlarged and re-
arranged in the late C19. Local stone rubble, the later work with brick dressings,
plastered fronts; stone rubble stacks with C19 brick chimney shafts except the hall
which has a tall chimney shaft of snecked stone; slate roof, formerly thatch over the
older part.
Plan and development: The main block faces south. At the right (east) end is a
kitchen with a gable-end stack. Next to it is a large room with projecting rear
lateral stack; it is now the dining room. Then there is a through passage and to
left of the passage a small room heated by a front lateral stack. There is a
corridor behind this room connecting the passage to the main entrance hall which
contains the main staircase. At the left (west) end is a 2-room plan parlour
crosswing facing west and projecting to rear. Each of these rooms has a gable-end
stack, the front (south) end one projecting a little.
The present layout is essentially the result of a major late C19 refurbishment. The
room functions of the old house were re-arranged and the main entrance lobby and
parlour crosswing were added at this time. The rest of the main block is the
historic core of the house. It has a 3-room-and-through-passage plan; the inner room
to right (the kitchen) and lower end service room to left of the passage, its stack
was added in the late C19. Most of the old structural carpentry is hidden with later
plaster and therefore it is not possible to determine the historic development of the
house in any detail. Nevertheless it seems likely that the house began in the C16 as
some form of open hall house, maybe heted by an open hearth fire.
Farmhouse is 2 storeys with secondary lean-to outshuts to rear of the main block.
Exterior: The parlour (west) front has a symmetrical 2-window front of late C19
horned 4-pane sashes, the larger ground floor windows in tripartite sashes. These
windows have brick surrounds and low segmental arches over. The roof here is higher
than the main block and is gable-ended. The main block has an irregular 6-window
front. The 2-window section of left contains horned 4-pane sashes, similar but
smaller to those round the corner on the parlour front. The rest are C18, C19 and
C20 casements with glazing bars. There are 3 front doorways. The main doorway (to
the entrance lobby) is late C19; it contains a part-glazed panelled door behind a
gabled brick porch. The central doorway is the original passage front doorway and
there is another doorway into the kitchen at the right end; both contain C19 plank
doors and the kitchen doorway has a monopitch hood. Roof is gable-ended and there is
a C19 timber-framed bellcote on the ridge.
Interior is largely the result of the late C19 refurbishment and most structural
carpentry is hidden behind C19 plaster. Nevertheless the original layout of the old
house is well-preserved in the main block and C16 and C17 features are suspected.
The former hall has 2 boxed in crossbeams and the fireplace here is blocked although
the C19 chimneypiece indicates its large size. The roofspace of the main block was
not available for inspection at the time of this survey although the bases of
straight principals show at first floor level indicating a roof of A-frame trusses.
Their scantling is large and the farmer reports that they are pegged together; they
are probably C17 in date.
A attractive cobbled courtyard to south of the former passage, hall and inner room
section of the main block, is completely enclosed. On the right (east) side a C19
single storey dairy block projects forward and is linked to a linhay (q.v.) which
forms the south side by a tall stone wall including a doorway. The west side is a
tall stone rubble wall between the farmhouse and linhay (q.v.).
Whiteleigh Barton is an interesting farmhouse with a good group of traditional
farmbuildings.

Listing NGR: SS5535417382

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26440764

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

• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)