Description

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 24 March 2023 to correct a reference in selected sources, remove superfluous source details from text and to reformat the text to current standards.

TL 4551
19/64

GREAT SHELFORD
CHURCH STREET (North West Side)
Rectory Farmhouse

(formerly listed as No.34 Rectory Farmhouse)

31.8.62

GV
II*
House, early-mid C14, altered and part rebuilt C15. Other alterations of C18 and C19. Timber framed, plaster rendered with one gable end wall of C18-C19 brick, painted. Steeply pitched, tiled roofs with end stacks. Plan of hall and crosswing with a C19 porch in the angle.

Former open hall, early-mid C14 of one storey and attic. One C19 tripartite hung sash at ground floor Principal entry to two storey porch at low end of hall. Crosswing, rebuilt C15, of two storeys jettied at first floor. One hung sash to each storey. At the rear is a late C17 bakehouse. Red brick, tiled.

Interior: the whole of one bay and part of a second bay of the original open hall remain intact, slight alterations took place to the roof probably in C15 and a floor was inserted in C17 or early C18. The roof is of hammer beam queen post construction similar to that illustrated in Cordingley (British Historical Roof Types IVe, p.89). However there are no scissor braces or ashlar pieces. In the C15, probably when the crosswing was rebuilt, the base of the queen posts was cut down and a tie beam was inserted. At the same time the original crown post to the display truss was replaced by one nearer the crosswing, and the angle struts and arch bracing were removed. Apart from these changes the roof is remarkably intact, including the original hollow moulded arch braces to the hammer beams visible in the ground floor rooms. The hammer beams may be obscured by the C15 tie beam and the later inserted floor.The raised collar is cambered and constructed of divided timber balks. The soffits of these applied timbers have a roll and ogee moulding. The queen posts are of square cut timbers and have jowled heads and engaged pilasters with moulded capitals. There are mortices for angle struts in the rear faces of the queen posts. The side purlins are laid flat rather than parallel with the rafters and are square in section. Each purlin has a stop splayed scarf with undersquinted butts and four face pegs and two nails. The roof is smoke blackened generally including the vacant mortices resulting from the C15 alterations to the roof. There is a wide cross-passage at the low end of the hall, but the screen has partly been rebuilt in brick. There are later doors to the original opposing entries and to the service doorways to the C15 rebuilt crosswing. One of these rooms has reset early C17 panelling. The roof is in four bays and of clasped side purlin construction with paired wind-bracing.

Listing NGR: TL4570951861

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17550873

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.

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  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
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  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability