Description

SE 7806-7906 BELTON CHURCHTOWN

18/16 Church Farmhouse
19.11.85
GV II

Farmhouse. C16 origins, rebuilt c1580 for Ryther family, reputedly as
priests residence, and refronted and raised for Ryther family in 1707; early
C19 repairs, renovations of 1970s. Timber-framing, infilled and encased in
brick, with inserted brick axial stack. Pantile roof. Plan: probably
originally an open hall with a first-floor chamber to the left end, altered
to 3 rooms with lobby entry to left of centre, and with outshut to rear left
containing main and secondary staircases; later single-room addition to left
end. 2 storeys, 4 bays, with entrance to narrow second bay; single-storey,
single-bay addition to left. Plinth, chamfered quoins. Entrance bay breaks
forward, with original 3-fielded-panel door with "1707" studded in nails on
central rail, set in C19 frame with plain C20 glazed overlight beneath
stucco flat arch with vermiculated keystone. C20 2-light 8-pane casements
with sills beneath similar keyed arches. First floor: entrance bay has
small 6-pane window with stone tablet below bearing inscription:

B
R E
1 7 0 7

in round-arched panel with incised star motifs in spandrels; carved tablet
above window bearing painted Ryther family arms with crest surmounted by
mantled helm. Flanking bays have stepped eaves. C19 paired brackets for
guttering (missing at time of resurvey). 2 courses of concrete flat tiles
at eaves. C19 rebuilt axial stack. Right end stack. Left extension has
late C18-early C19 16-pane sliding sash, stepped eaves, C20 wooden eaves
board; round-headed entrance with board door beneath plain panel to left
return. Right return has pair of C20 6-pane ground-floor casements. Rear
elevation has random fenestration and altered entrances. Interior. Visible
timber framing includes wall posts, intermediate posts and rear wall plate
with pegged stop-splayed scarf joint. Ground-floor rooms have heavy
chamfered spine beams (that to central room with cyma stops) and exposed
joists, those to left room laid flat and probably C16, those to right rooms
C18 insertions or early C19 replacements. Inserted chimney has inglenooks
with salt cupboards and chamfered oak bressumers with cyma stops. Front
wall contains a pair of blocked former open hall windows, one apparently
containing sections of original oak frame beneath the plaster. Good C17-
early C18 open-well main staircase with corniced string, corniced handrail,
squat bulb-on-urn balusters with round knops, and profiled newel posts with
sockets for former finials. Outshut contains a C18 domed oven with a reset
flattened ogee-moulded lintel or bressumer inscribed "1707" supporting a
wrought-iron framework for the brick dome; adjacent room contains reused
timber framing. The Ryther arms on the front also appear on Robert Ryther's
tombstone of 1695 in the nearby church of All Saints (qv), however the
initials on the datestone do not correspond to those of the then vicar, or
members of the main branch of the Ryther family. Some episodes of the
building history are well documented in the deeds. An early and important
survival.

Listing NGR: SE7823806326

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26630221

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

• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)