Description

BUCKLAND MONACHORUM
SX 56 NW
4/29 Elfordtown Farmhouse
-
- II

House originally farmhouse. C17 probably with earlier origins, altered in C20.
Colour-washed stone rubble walls with gable ended tarred slate roof. 2 stone rubble
stacks, one axial and one at gable end of wing, projecting slightly. Brick gable
end stack at left end of original house.
Longhouse or longhouse derivative plan with shippon to the right and passage
dividing it from hall and inner room to the left. Hall stack backs onto passage,
inner room likely originally to have been unheated. There is no obvious straight
joint visible between the house and shippon but the shippon exhibits no early
features and has probably been rebuilt as is also suggested by its great length.
Later alterations make it impossible to say whether there was originally access to
the shippon from the passage and whether this was for humans only or for animals
too. The doorways to the staircase and on the first floor suggest a mid C17 date
but it is possible that these date from a remodelling of the house when the wing
heated by a gable-end stack was added to the front of the hall and passage. The
hall ceiling and fireplace may be earlier C17. The rebuilding of the shippon dates
probably from the later C18, presumably its size corresponds to the lack of other
farm buildings. The only other one was a cart shed which was added to the left-hand
end of the house. This was converted in the C20 into a further room. The inner
room stack probably dates from the C19. In the late C20 a room was created out of
the shippon adjoining the passage.
2 storeys. Asymmetrical 5-window front with long barn to right and projecting wing
roughly at centre of house. On the left-hand side are 2 circa early C20 casements
with glazing bars on first floor and C20 casement on ground floor to left with brick
arch. To its right is C20 stable type door under C20 gable hood. Beyond it is
original 2-light granite mullioned window with C20 leaded glass. Attached at left-
hand gable end is single storey former cart shed with C20 2-light casement on front
wall. Wing at centre has C20 2-light casement on ground floor of left-hand face.
At gable end to right of stack is C17 stone framed single light window on ground
floor with iron stanchion bar. To right of wing built onto front of house is C20
leanto porch with stable type door. At this stage the roof-line of the building
drops. To right of porch is long barn which has had late C20 2-light casement
inserted at left-hand end on ground floor with single light C19 casement above and
similar window to right over wide doorway which has buttress to either side.
Another wider doorway towards right hand end also has sloping buttress to its left
and slit window to either side of it. Both doorways have wooden lintels. At rear
to centre of house is large gabled stair projection with small probably C18 light
which has original leaded glass and iron stanchion bar.
Interior: Hall has granite-framed fireplace with jambs and lintel chamfered. There
are 2 heavy cross beams, chamfered with hollow step stops, one supported on wooden
corbel at rear possibly this was inserted due to wall disturbance when stair turret
was added. Joists are contemporary to beams and similarly decorated. Doorway to
newel stairs at rear of hall has ovolo-moulded wooden frame with high hollow step
stops. Contemporary studded plank door with scratch moulding to planks and fleur-
de-lys strap hinges. At the top of the stairs are 2 similar but worn doorframes,
limited access to roof space but truss visible has substantial principal rafters
with collar pegged onto their face: probably circa early C18.
Despite its modest size this building contains a number of good quality interior
features suggesting that longhouses (or longhouse derivative houses) were not
necessarily lower status buildings.

Listing NGR: SX5219066957

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26611834

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
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)