Description

BEAFORD
SS 51 NW
11/6 Beaford Mill House and adjoining
- garden walls

GV II

Mill house, now house. C16, altered and enlarged in the C17. Rendered cob on stone
rubble plinth. Gable-ended wheatstraw thatched roof. Stone end stacks to right and
rear and lateral stack to rear, partly rendered.
Plan and development: C16 three-room and through passage plan, facing north-west
(ground falls to right). Central hall with external lateral stack to rear, former
service room to right with external end stack and former inner unheated room to left.
The house may have been originally open to the roof and heated by an open-hearth fire
(possibly open from end to end). External lateral stack added to the rear of the
hall in the early C17, probably while the hall remained open to the roof (see high
lintel). Early C17 one-roomed kitchen wing projecting at right angles to rear of
hall with integral end stack and C17 winder stair in corner. First-floor inserted in
the hall, probably in the late C17. Probable C19 lean-to addition (possibly formerly
dairy) in left-hand angle of rear wing, and late C20 lean-to porch in right-hand
angle of rear wing. Probably C19 staircases rising from left-hand inner room and
right-hand lower end room. Two storeys.
Exterior: Asymmetrically fenestrated front. Central first-floor C19 two-light
small-paned wooden casement (lighting chamber over hall) with wooden lintel. Three
ground-floor windows, mid to late C19 four-paned sashes lighting hall to centre and
to right-hand end, with wooden lintels, and late C20 plate-glass window to left.
Passage doorway off-centre to right has mid C19 five-panelled door (lower panels
beaded flush, centre panel recessed and upper panels glazed) and wooden lintel.
Left-hand gable end has C19 two-light wooden casement to each floor. Right-hand
gable end has first-floor 2-light wooden casement to left of stack with wooden lintel
and raking buttress to right. Rear of right-hand end has first-floor C19 two-light
wooden casement and ground-floor C19 three-light wooden casement, both with wooden
lintels. Passage rear doorway to right. South-west side of rear (kitchen) wing has
ground-floor C19 three-light wooden casement, lighting kitchen and lean-to bread oven
to right. Doorway to left has C17 chamfered wooden frame (now inside C20 lean-to
porch). North-east side of rear wing has first-floor C18 three-light wooden casement
and ground-floor boarded door.
Low C19 stone rubble walls enclosing small garden to front (north-west) of house,
with central gateway. Short length of stone rubble wall adjoining to south-west of
rear wing with slate coping and gateway with wooden lintel.
Interior: Stone-flagged passage with C19 matchboarded dado and C19 panelled doors.
Hall has late C17 chamfered spine beam with ogee stops and plain joists. Fireplace
to rear (altered in the late C20) with high wooden lintel. Trimmer in ceiling to
right of fireplace, evidence of possible former staircase. Window seat to front.
Former inner room to left has C17 spine beam with broach stops. Right-hand ground-
floor room has brick floor, longitudinal joists and C17 open fireplace with splayed
dressed stone jambs and plain wooden lintel. Stone cross walls between rooms in hall
range, possibly later additions or rebuildings. Owner (December 1987) reports that
the roof over the hall range has trusses with straight principals (roofspace is
ceiled). Ground-floor room in rear wing (kitchen) has C17 chamfered cross beam with
stepped run-out stops and joists. Open fireplace to rear with large wooden lintel
and bread oven to right with cast-iron door. Window seat in side wall. First-floor
room in rear wing approached by steep C17 winder stair in corner by stack. Old
floor-boards and old plaster ceiling, up to collar level. C18 window in north-east
wall has wooden diamond-section stanchion to centre light. C17 truss visible, with
straight principals and collar. Roof-spaces not inspected (ceiled).
The house forms part of a mill complex, also including the mill (q.v.), leat
retaining walls (q.v.) and bridges (q.v.).

Listing NGR: SS5433914368

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26595659

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

• 
  For the Record
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)