Description

COUNTISBURY WILSHAM
SS 74 NE
4/40 The Old Farmhouse
-
GV II
Farmhouse. now house, and adjoining outbuilding. Circa 1500 with mid C17
alterations and additions ("1638" on reset datestone). Minor C18 alterations and
mid C20 partial rebuilding. Painted and rendered coursed sandstone rubble.
Weatherboarding (probably renewed) beneath eaves and gable-ended scantle slate roof,
gabled to right (west). Formerly thatched (evidence from old photograph).
Outbuilding of coursed sandstone rubble and cob.
Plan and development: 3-room-and-cross-passage plan of circa 1500, consisting of
hall, with cross-passage and service room (demolished in mid C20) to right (west)
and inner room to left (east). Former continuously or partially open hall house,
floored in the mid C17 and axial stack inserted in hall at the same time, backing
onto the cross-passage (truncated in C20); eaves probably raised at the same time.
Room added at upper end (east) with integral end stack, probably in the C17 or C18.
Room(s) also added at lower end probably in the C17. (Noted from old photograph)
but they were demolished along with the former service rooms and cross-passage, in
the mid C20 and rebuilt. C20 porch to front of hall, now blocked. Probably late
C18 lean-to to rear. Outbuilding added to left probably in C18 or C19.
2 storeys.
Exterior: asymmetrical 4-window front; C20 2 and 3-light wooden casements with
wooden lintels. Pair of C20 glazed doors between front and second windows from left
and pair of French casements to right (former hall). Lean-to former porch between
first and second windows from left, with reset datestone inscribed: "ANO.DNI/1638."
Initials after the date 'illegible at the time of survey (July 1987). Large mid C20
addition to right. Outbuilding adjoining to left, curving out to front.
Interior: hall with pair of chamfered spine beams and wall beam to rear, with long
stepped run-out stops. Open fireplace. Round-arched doorway of circa 1500 between
former cross-passage and hall with pegged frame and chamfered on the lower end side.
Former inner to left with pair of C17 chamfered cross beam. C17 chamfered doorframe
between hall and inner room, with mason's mitres and broach stops. Roof mostly
rebuilt in C17 but at least one pair of circa 1500 elbow crucks survive at the upper
end of the inner room.

Listing NGR: SS7566448456

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26508031

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

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  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
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  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
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  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)