High House, Hentland, County of Herefordshire

Summary

A house thought to date from the mid-C18, altered in the C19 and C20.

Description

A house thought to date from the mid-C18, altered in the C19 and C20.

MATERIALS: the house is constructed of brick and stone with modern slate roofs. The front facade is covered in a modern cement render.

PLAN: the house is aligned roughly east-west, with extensions on its west and north sides (the northern, lean-to extensions are excluded from the listing).

EXTERIOR: the principal part of the house is of two storeys and three bays under a hipped roof. The front facade has a central door in a slightly projecting bay; this and the window above have moulded, eared architraves, and the door has a projecting keystone and pediment above. This central bay has a small pediment with an oculus window at the apex. The windows which flank the central bay have cambered heads and the elevation is framed by flat pilasters at each end.

The end walls of the house are painted brick, and the rear elevation is rendered with lean-to extensions (these lean-to extensions are excluded from the listing) and two dormer windows in the roof. The extension to the west has a large catslide roof and is a mixture of brick and stone construction. It has a canted bay window at its western end. The main entrance to the house is through a modern porch at the re-entrant angle between the house and the west extension.

INTERIOR: The present main entrance, through a C19 timber boarded door, opens into a large kitchen with a small living room adjacent. This living room has a large hearth which may have contained a range.

The main block of the house has been altered so that at ground floor level the historic arrangement is legible but not in situ. The central corridor has been removed so that the western half is one large space with a flagged floor. The smaller, eastern room, reinstated after C20 remodelling, has a modern concrete floor and a recessed cupboard with some carved timber decoration.

The first floor is accessed via a stair in the C20 extension (this extension is excluded from the listing). In the original part of the building, there are wide timber floorboards and C19 fireplaces in the two main rooms. The upper part of the original stair survives; this is contained within a timber casing with arched opening over the stair. The stair itself has a moulded handrail and timber balusters forming a square pattern. There are plain stick balusters at attic level. The rooms at this floor have exposed timber framing to the partition walls, and truncated dragon beams to each corner of the roof structure.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 12/08/2019

History

High House is a village house which is thought to date from the mid or late-C18. It appears on the Hentland Parish tithe map of 1839 in much as its current layout, with the main house and attached extensions, standing in a large plot with adjacent orchards no longer extant. There is a former barn to the west of the house, now in separate ownership, which formed part of the property.

The current appearance of the building appears to be the result of later alterations, and it seems that it originally had an exposed brick front. The front and side walls are constructed of brick, with the rear being of rubble stone; it seems likely that the original front elevation was a relatively simple brick facade. The present rendered appearance of the house probably dates from an early or mid-C19 remodelling. The moulded surrounds and pediment to the central door and window probably date from the same time as when the stucco was added. The small pediment at eaves level may also date from this time, or it may be later still.

The extension to the house's western end does appear to have been added after the house was built, although fairly early on in its history as it does appear on the tithe map. A later C20 extension has also been added to the rear of the house.

Internally, much historic fabric survives alongside later alterations. The lower flight of the original stair was removed in the latter part of the C20, though the upper flight survives.

Reasons for Listing

High House, an C18 house, altered in the C19 and C20, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* the house is a good example of a mid-C18 village house in Herefordshire, with evidence of the local vernacular traditions from its construction and use of differing materials;
* it has an imposing and prominent facade which speaks strongly of the status and impression that its owners wished to portray at the time of its remodelling;
* it survives well, with good detailing and features from the time of its original construction, and from later phases of alteration. These give evidence of architectural fashions at each time of alteration, and are of good quality.

Historic interest:

* the house has good historic interest as an example of a relatively simple mid-C18 village house which was later substantially improved.

External Links

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