Carhullan farmhouse and barn, Bampton, Eden

Summary

Farmhouse, late C17, extended in 1729; L-shaped barn range, probably C18.

Description

Farmhouse, late C17, extended in 1729; L-shaped barn range, probably C18, incorporating earlier features.

MATERIALS: the barn range is of roughly coursed local slate stone with stone dressings. The farmhouse is stone-built, obscured by paint.

PLAN: a small farmstead comprising a roughly rectangular house of two phases forming the south-eastern side of a narrow farmyard, and an adjacent, formerly detached, L-shaped barn range forming the north-west and south-west sides of the farmyard, which is open to the north-east. The house formerly had a two-unit plan, which was extended into a three unit house with cross passage.

FARMHOUSE

EXTERIOR: two-storeys beneath pitched roofs of graduated, Lakeland slate, with flat-faced stone mullioned windows, and a prominent boulder plinth. The main south-east elevation has a right end chimneystack and a right of centre ridge chimneystack. Immediately below the latter there is an entrance within a single-storey, gabled porch with crow steps and a crude boulder finial; its north side has a six-panel door within a moulded architrave, and an upright handle with leaf-shaped ends. To the left of the porch (the original building) there is a small single-light fire window and a four-light, and two-light stone mullioned window to the ground floor, and three two-light mullioned windows to the first floor. To the right of the porch (the early-C18 extension) there are four windows: the two first floor and one of the ground floor windows are two-light stone mullions. The other ground floor window is a rectangular single light, probably inserted to balance the fire window when the house was extended. The right return has a single-light first floor window. The left return is blind and is now connected to the adjacent barn by an early-C20 single storey connecting range. The rear elevation has a projecting two-storey range with a substantial gable chimneystack and an added single-storey lean-to WC. This elevation and the projecting range are lit by two-light mullioned windows of identical form to the main elevation. A rear entrance to the cross passage has alternating jambs and a lintel inscribed 'IL 1729' and a C20 door within a moulded and chamfered and stopped stone surround. To the right of the projecting range there is a lean-to outshut with a single mullioned window and a two-light mullioned stair window.

INTERIOR: historic fixtures and fittings are mostly later C17 or early C18 in date. The stone-slabbed cross passage has a six-panel door and architrave, with an upright handle with back plate, that opens into a large room. This has large red sandstone flags to the floor, a substantial waney ceiling beam and rafters, timber lintels and wooden window seats, a corbelled red sandstone fireplace with timber cupboards to either side. A deep opening at the west end of the cross passage, leads through the original gable end of the house into the original later-C17 building. The former firehouse and parlour are now a single large space following the removal of a timber partition, and has an attached rear stair turret and buttery/dairy. A heck passage with in situ heck post opens into the room, which has a red sandstone flagged floor. A former inglenook to the north wall is lit by a small fire window, has a substantial fire beam and a red-sandstone corbelled fireplace with chamfered lintel; to the right there is a decorative scrolled spice cupboard with butterfly hinges, dated 1707, and two additional alcoves, probably salt and fuel stores. There are three further substantial chamfered ceiling beams with moulded edges, some with chamfer stops; the central beam formerly held a timber panelled partition separating the firehouse from the unheated parlour; there is an inserted chamfered red sandstone fireplace against the west wall of the former parlour. There are two openings in the rear wall of the firehouse, each with a three-panel door in a rustic surround with upright handles with leaf-shaped ends; the openings give access to a stair hall from which the former buttery (now a bathroom) is entered through a similar door, and to the ground floor of the rear range (now a utility room) with substantial timber beam and lintels.

The oak dog-leg staircase has turned balusters and balustrade, and plain flat-topped newel posts with shallow pyramidal caps. The first floor has exposed waney ceiling beams and rafters throughout, and timber lintels and window seats. The hallway has a boarded floor of a mixture of early, wide floorboards, and later narrower forms, and a full-height, intact timber partition separates it from five rooms. Doors to the rooms are three or five panel doors of early-C18 Westmorland style. The most northerly bedroom has a timber partition around two sides of an inserted ensuite, with a central inset doorway with a six-panel door, flanked to either side by deep cupboards also with six panel doors. The room forming a bedroom in the rear range has panelling and six-panel doors now forming a fitted cupboard and a sliding door to an ensuite. Within the first floor of the rear outshut there is a substantial waney and adzed beam. The roof structure was not viewed, but it is understood that the original remains in situ.

BARN RANGE

EXTERIOR: a two-storey, L-shaped range with a substantial boulder plinth, beneath pitched roofs of modern tile. The farmyard elevation of the north-west range has a full-height segmental arched entrance with finely laid voussoirs and chamfered stone jambs. This is flanked to the left by a pair of ground and first floor ventilation slits, and to the right by a first-floor ventilation slit, and an inserted two-light, chamfered stone mullioned window below. To the right there is a plain entrance with a pitching door, and attached to the right end of the barn, and wrapped around the corner to the north-east gable, there is a later, projecting two-storey lean-to structure. This has an entrance in a crudely made architrave of re-used, chamfered lintel and jambs, a second inserted doorway and a first-floor entrance reached by a set of external stone steps. The right return has a capped external chimney stack and a slightly lower later addition with a pair of openings in the north gable. The rear elevation has a first floor two-over-two sash window in a surround of reset architectural pieces and an inserted ground floor window. To the right of a clear building break there is a blocked ground floor window with a projecting stone lintel and a pair of ventilation slits, with to the upper right an inserted window between a pair of blocked ventilation slits. Further to the right is an entrance within a chamfered stone architrave with projecting threshold; this is flanked to the right by three further ventilation slits, with a fourth now replaced by an inserted window. The left return is blind. The south-west barn range is built against the end of the north-west range, and its farmyard elevation is partially open fronted; further to the left there is an inserted chamfered, stone-mullioned ground floor window, a single ventilation slit, and a pitching door. The left return and rear elevation are blind.

INTERIOR: the six-bay north-west range has a replacement roof structure, and is a largely open space with a byre undercroft to either end. The south-east byre has no visible features, and the loft floor above is a replacement, and the north east byre retains a cobbled floor surface and C20 timber stalls. The extreme north east part of the barn has an inserted loft floor, below which there is a stone scarcement indicating the presence of a former and lower loft floor. The loft retains the upper part of a stone chimney supported on stone corbels. The south-west range has a stable undercroft to one end that retains its timber stalls and original loft beams.

History

The present farmhouse is considered to date from the late C17, which saw a general building of farmhouses and farm buildings in the region. A detached stone discovered during renovation work within the farmhouse (now re-sited) is crudely inscribed with the initials JL and the date 1676 set within an inscribed circle, and other rough marks are set within a rectangle below. The crude inscriptions are consistent with Apotropaic or ritual marks, commonly inscribed upon timber and stone within buildings to ward off evil spirits or witches in the C17. This stone may record the construction of the original house, which is thought to have had a two-unit plan comprising firehouse and parlour, with rear outshuts. A door lintel inscribed with the date 1729 and the initials IL (John Law) records that the house was extended to the north by the addition of a cross passage and a third room in 1729.

The adjacent barn is at least C18 in date and has several earlier architectural pieces incorporated within its walls, including two mullioned windows and a pair of rustic door surrounds. The north end of the barn retains the corbelled upper stone flue of a chimney. This suggests the presence of a domestic dwelling of some form, which has been partially incorporated into the extended barn.

The farmhouse and the barn are both depicted on the first edition 1,2500 Ordnance Survey map of 1861 with the same footprint as the present day. In 1936 the Royal Commission on the Historic Monuments of England visited and described it as follows: ‘a house and barn, the house with an addition dated 1729, at the north end. Inside the building are some original moulded ceiling-beams, a fireplace with a corbelled head and a panelled partition and doors. The Barn, W of the house, is of six bays.'

Reasons for Listing

Carhullan farmhouse of later-C17 and early-C18 date and associated barn are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* a good example of a late-C17 Westmorland farmhouse and probable C18 barn range constructed in the local vernacular style and materials, which contribute to our understanding of regional diversity and illustrate the type of simple, evolved small Westmorland farmstead that characterise the area;

* the house has good survival of structural fabric including mass walling, roof structures, and chamfered floor/ceiling beams;

* the dwelling’s original two-unit plan with rear outshuts is preserved and highly legible within the evolved building that acquired a cross passage and additional accommodation in the early C18;

* the interior retains a range of historic fixtures and fittings, including staircase, panelled doors, floorboards, timber partitions, spice cupboards, and stone flags;

* the combination barn retains its vernacular character, through which its threshing, storage and animal housing functions are clearly expressed, and there is good survival of original fabric;

* despite the loss of the original roof structure, the interest of the barn is enhanced by evidence of a former domestic dwelling at its north end and the incorporation of early domestic doors and windows.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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