Description

TQ 64 SE PADDOCK WOOD PEARSONS GREEN

6/345 Pearsons Farmhouse

II

House. Circa mid/late C17 origins, perhaps a remodelling of an earlier house;
alterations and extension of the late C19. C17 phase timber-framed, the
ground floor underbuilt in brick, the first floor tile-hung. C19 addition
brick to the ground floor, first floor tile-hung with a cogged brick cornice
at first floor level; peg-tile roofs; brick stacks.

Plan: The house faces east north east, say east. The main block originated
as a C17 3 room lobby entrance plan, the hall and parlour to the right (north)
heated by back-to-back fireplaces in an axial stack. The left hand (south)
room unheated and originally divided into 2 service rooms, probably buttery
and pantry. In the circa mid C19 a rear left kitchen wing was added at right
angles to the old service end, heated by a west end stack. A little later, in
the circa 1880s, a front right wing at right angles was added containing a
principal room and a new stair. Probably at the same time a farm office was
built to the rear of the house, connected to the C19 kitchen by a series of
outbuildings which have now been absorbed into domestic use. This gives a
rear courtyard behind the house. A one-room plan detached block immediately
north of the house is said to have been used as hoppers' accommodation: it may
have been the C19 carriage house.

Exterior: 2 storeys and attic. Asymmetrical 2:1 window front, the one window
to the C19 wing. Roof half-hipped at the left end, hipped at the right end,
gabled to the front of the wing where it has deep eaves and open timberwork in
the gable. Axial stack with a C19 or C20 brick shaft. Deep C19 gabled porch
in the angle between the main block and the wing, the detail in the gable
matching the wing gable; C19 panelled outer door. Probably late C19 2- and 3-
light casements to the main block. The wing has a late C19 4-pane plate glass
sash to the first floor. The ground floor has a canted bay with a hipped roof
containing a French window with margin glazing flanked by 2-pane plate glass
sashes. Outbuilding immediately right (north) in handmade brick to the ground
floor, first floor tile-hung. Paired plank carriage doors to the left, first
floor casement to the right with square leaded panes. The farm office has a
gabled peg-tile roof, a rear lateral chimney stack, a C19 door and tripartite
plate glass sash window on the east side.

Interior: The C17 hall has a large cross beam close to the fireplace and
chamfered stopped joists. The joist arrangement in front of the fireplace
suggests that there may have been a framed stack pre-dating the existing
chimney. The partition dividing the service end has been removed. The old
parlour has renewed ceiling beams and a rebuilt fireplace. On the first floor
the chamber over the hall has jewel scroll stops. The posts of the wall
framing with formed jowls survive to sole plate level in places. The first
floor includes several C18 2-panel doors. The C19 single storey kitchen has
an exposed clasped purlin and queen strut roof and a massive fireplace with a
timber lintel. There was formerly a bread oven associated with the fireplace.
The room in the C19 wing has a good original Devon marble chimney-piece with a
pretty tiled surround and a shelf for displaying ornaments fixed to the walls
below the ceiling. Circa 1880s stair with turned balusters.

Roof: Not thoroughly inspected but appears to be a staggered butt purlin
arrangement.

Listing NGR: TQ6961543414

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26545975

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

• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)