Description

MENDLESHAM OLD STATION ROAD
TM 16 NW
7/69 Elms Farmhouse
29.7.55 (formerly listed as
The Elms)

-- II*
Former farmhouse. Late C15 with C16 alterations. C19 wing to north. Timber
framed and rendered, roof of concrete pantiles. A 3-cell house of Wealden
type. 2 storeys and attic. Jetties to north: service end jetty retains
original brackets and buttress-shafts; jetty at parlour end concealed by later
additions. South front has mid C20 standard casement windows. Lobby
entrance: doorcase has eared architrave, frieze and pedimented cornice; semi-
glazed door in 2 leaves. Internal stack; external stack at west gable end.
Interior. 2-bay former open hall with heavy close studding exposed on upper
floor. Central truss has arched-braced cambered tie beam carrying tall
octagonal crown-post, moulded at cap and base, with 2-way bracing to the
collar purlin. Roof considerably altered and now of side purlin form,
although the lower row of purlins, with short wind braces, appear to be
original. Moulded and embattled dais beam. 2-bay parlour, the gable end wall
and part of south wall rebuilt. Parlour ceiling has mutilated cross beams
with remains of hollow moulding and a central band of leaf ornament; plain
joists. Former outside wall to north shows part of jetty (similar to service
end), remains of embattling on the mid rail and a blocked window with
chamfered mullions. An original blocked doorway in south wall of parlour
chamber may have led to a garderobe. Most of timbers in service cell
concealed. A half-bay between hall and parlour, probably for a timber flue,
now accommodates the C16 stack, with open fireplaces on both floors. High
quality C16 inserted floor in hall has roll-moulding to main beam, joists and
cornice; the joists in the lower half are concealed. Parlour chamber and
upper bay of hall chamber have cambered ceilings with deeply-chamfered joists.
The most important feature of the house is the survival of much wall painting,
principally of late C16. In parlour chamber, extensive and well-preserved
all-over decoration of stylised flowers, framed by ribbons and coils, in
white, pink and red, on a slate grey ground. A frieze incorporates framed
texts from the Coverdale Bible, and shields bearing the initials of Richard
Kybyll, thought to be a descendant of the original builder. Upper half of
hall chamber has less well preserved remains of painting on 4 walls, the wall
against the open truss comprising vertical lapped elm boards. The all-over
design incorporates flowers enclosed by contiguous quatrefoils, with larger
geometric panels above tie beam level and remains of further framed texts and
a shield initialled 'K' over 'RA'. North wall of parlour has early C17
regular grey overpainting of studding, between which are 8 red ochre motifs.
Over the fireplace are 3 identical red ochre designs showing a shield with an
elaborate surround of stylised foliage. Proceedings of Suffolk Institute of
Archaeology, Vol.36, pp.221-3. Period Homes, September 1987, pp.24-5.

Listing NGR: TM1031265353

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17540209

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

• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey