Broad Lane Farm, North Curry, Somerset

Description

NORTH CURRY

1072/11/31 BROAD LANE
21-FEB-86 (South side)
Broad Lane Farm

II
Former farmhouse. Probably late C16 with additions of various dates, although principally late C17.

MATERIALS: Rubble stone and cob, with some rebuilding in brick and concrete blocks. The roof is partly thatched and partly tiled and has brick end stacks. The windows appear to have been refenestrated in the C19.

PLAN: The earliest part of the building is the late-C16 three room cross passage hall range which appears to have been upgraded in the early-C17 when a first floor room or parlour was inserted above the hall. In the later-C17 the house was extended with the addition of a cross wing of three bays at the western corner and the construction of a large outshut with catslide roof along the entire length of the north east side of the house. This comprises a kitchen, a wood shed and possible smoking chamber. During the C18 or C19 further lean-to structures were added against the south east gable wall, including a pig sty and a shippon. There are further lean-to additions to the north west gable and the north west side of the cross wing which date from the C20 and are not of special interest. The house now has a roughly L-shaped plan.

EXTERIOR: The principal, south west elevation has a slightly off-centre entrance, now accessed via a single-storey porch with a roof of corrugated sheeting. There are three-light casements to either side of the half-glazed C20 entrance door; that to the left is a C17 mullioned window which is now masked by the porch, the other is probably C19. At first floor are two further casement windows, each positioned below eyebrows in the thatch. To the left and projecting forwards, is the gable wall of the cross wing which has a C20 window to the ground floor. There is a C20 lean-to of blockwork construction beyond. Towards the southern end of this façade is a full height raking buttress and, to the right, the end wall of a lean-to. The south east gable wall is masked by the C18 or C19 lean-tos, formerly a pig sty and a shippon. The rear, north east elevation is unlit except for a C20 window in the late C17 outshut, to the left of which is a doorway leading into the cross passage and a further outshut with catslide roof to the extreme left.

INTERIOR: The hall range is divided across the centre by the cross passage which is flanked by timber partitions; that on the south east side rises to the apex of the roof. To the right of the passage is a large room, probably the hall, which has an open fireplace with a large timber bressumer. There is some evidence of incised graffiti, possibly birds, in a panel of the north west partition wall. To the left of the hearth is a large opening that has since been blocked and is believed to represent a smoking or curing chamber of C19 date. The principal ceiling beams to this room are deeply chamfered with stepped straight-cut stops to both ends. They appear to be later insertions, probably introduced when the first floor chamber was added in the late-C17, suggesting that the hall was originally open to the roof, although there is no evidence of smoke blackening. A recess to right of the fireplace is considered to be the site of a winder stair. To the left of the passage is the central room with fine chamfered ceiling beams which appears to have been one of the principal rooms. It has since been subdivided when a new staircase was inserted, probably in the C19. The north eastern part of the room has been annexed to form a short passage that provides access from the cross passage to the room at the north end of the house which retains a small late-C19 or early-C20 fireplace. The cross wing is now accessed from the hall range via the lean-to porch on the south west side, but was originally entered by a doorway from the room at the northern end of the house which is now blocked. The wing has a large single room, lately used as a workshop or agricultural building, but was originally part of the domestic accommodation. The room is unheated but much of the south west wall has been rebuilt in the C20 and this may have removed evidence for a fireplace. The first floor joists have been removed but the surviving chamfered ceiling beams have elaborate double-notched stops.

The first floor, which is access from the C19 or C20 staircase in the central room, is divided into three chambers, with a further room occupying the entire first floor of the cross wing. The roof structure of the hall range is supported by jointed cruck posts that extend almost to the ground. At first floor the roof is exposed in places and consists of the collared cruck posts which are jointed to the massive principal rafters by mortice and tenon joints and crudely chamfered purlins. The roof shows signs of repeated alterations. The roof of the cross wing is supported by two A-frame trusses with principal rafters and a single row of purlins.

SOURCES: R. W. Parker, C. Wakeham and R. Harris, `An Archaeological Survey of Broad Lane Farmhouse, North Curry, Somerset' (2006), Exeter Archaeology Report No. 06.74

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION:
Broad Lane Farmhouse is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Essentially a late C16 cruck-framed, cross passage house with late C17 cross wing and later additions that preserves a significant proportion of historic fabric in a range of local vernacular building materials
* It displays good craftsmanship and local building traditions
* The growth and development of the farmhouse can be read in the surviving elements.

Listing NGR: ST3295325621

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Broad Lane Farm

A Grade II Listed Building in North Curry, Somerset

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