Summary
Hall house pre-dating the mid-C17, probably built in the C16 by a yeoman farmer, possibly with origins as a cruck-framed hall. Converted to agricultural use probably in the C18. At the time of inspection (June 2023) undergoing conversion back into domestic use.
Description
Hall house, probably for a yeoman farmer no later than the early C17, converted to agricultural use probably in the C18, undergoing conversion back into domestic use 2023.
MATERIALS: roughly coursed local rubble stone, the foundations incorporating several large boulders; the roof being covered in Lakeland blue slate laid to diminishing courses.
PLAN: orientated with gable ends to the south and north with the smoke bay of the hall at the northern end, the byre being beyond, forming the north end of the range, this being on slightly lower ground. The original entrance to the hall is considered to be where the C18 cart entrance was inserted, in the east wall between the projection for the spiral staircase and the external staircase to the hayloft. The entrance to the byre is also on the east side, at the foot of the hayloft stairs.
EXTERIOR: At the time of inspection (June 2023), appeared as a two storey, six bay, traditionally stone-built agricultural building under a continuous roof with no external evidence of a chimney.
West side wall: The four-bay hall is marked by a well-constructed continuous drip course considered to mark the original eaves line. The two-bay byre’s original eaves line is marked by an intermittent row of through stones slightly lower than the hall’s drip course. Rising from this level there is a definite vertical joint between the hayloft and the hall. However, the current eaves line and roofing of the hall and hayloft is continuous. To the centre of the elevation there is a large opening with a lowered sill and a timber lintel, this opening recently reopened at the time of inspection. In proportion this is likely to have originally been for a timber-framed three- or perhaps a four-light mullion window and would have lit the main living area of the hall. To its left there is a single-light fire window which would have lit the inglenook fireplace. To its right are two reasonably evenly spaced windows that are slightly shorter and probably originally held two-light mullioned windows. To the first floor there are three relatively evenly spaced windows that are roughly aligned with the openings below. In proportion these were probably two-, or possibly small three-light mullioned windows. At the time of inspection all of these windows were blocked. The byre has a single, centrally placed window. The hayloft, above the byre, is blind.
East side wall: This elevation lacks projecting through stones or drip courses. To the centre is a tall inserted cart entrance with renewed double doors. The internal and external lintels are reused timbers retaining redundant housings and peg holes. To the left (south) is the projection for the spiral staircase. This is an irregular canted bay with a lean-to roof that falls from just below the eaves of the hall. It has a single, mid-height window to the east face and a large, low level niche to the north face, this probably being a lamp shelf overlooking the entrance. Immediately to the left of the stair projection there is a small first floor window with a stone lintel, and a larger ground floor window with a timber lintel. At the time of inspection, this ground floor window (in proportion likely to have been a two- or perhaps a three-light mullion window which had been reduced to a pair of small square openings) was in the process of being opened up into a doorway. To the left there is the end of a timber beam embedded in the wall. To the right (north) of the cart entrance there is the doorway to the hay loft at the top of an external stone flight of steps that rises from the centrally placed byre doorway. The lintel to the byre doorway is curved and has a disused peg hole and is potentially a section of a former cruck blade.
South gable: this has a single projecting through stone with a hole above (possibly an owl hole) which is level with, and close to, the eastern eaves. The rest of the gable appears to be blind although there is evidence internally of at least two blocked windows, one at first floor level, just below the possible owl hole, and one at attic level close to the western roof slope. Two other areas of stonework internally could be interpreted as two further blocked windows at first floor and attic level. Slight changes in stonework hint at a former steeper pitch to the roof.
North gable: This is quoined and is the most neatly built elevation to the building, possibly indicating that it was rebuilt in the C18 or later. The top of the gable and verges have been rebuilt more recently. The elevation has some projecting through stones and three, evenly spaced, small square openings, either put-log holes or owl holes.
INTERIOR: The hall retains the stone spiral staircase projecting to the east but has lost its upper floor structure (except for some beam ends embedded in the walls) and room divisions, although evidence of the ground floor divisions may survive buried. The various blocked windows described above are generally more readily identified internally, the window openings typically having neatly built splays. The wall between the hall and the byre/hayloft has a chimney stack that is truncated and has been roofed over. This chimney rises from timber staging cantilevered through the thickness of the wall about half-way up the roof slope, the four timbers forming the staging being reused, at least one of them likely to be a former saddle piece from a cruck frame. Splaying down from this staging, at the time of the site inspection, the wall was roughly plastered and sooted showing the outline of a broad smoke hood that originally rose from the ground floor. Within this area, on the eastern side extending directly down from the chimney, there is a neatly formed splayed recess forming the rear of a narrower smoke hood. This recess fades out just above a long horizontal stone built into the wall which is potentially the truncated remains of a first-floor hearth stone. Below this, to the east, the walling is patched with brickwork, interpreted as evidence of the removal of a masonry heck partition, originally forming the east side of a inglenook fireplace. Immediately beyond there is evidence of a blocked alcove or possible former doorway to the byre. Built into the wall adjacent to the west wall with its fire window is a stack of four alcoves, interpreted as former salt and spice cupboards. The walls of the hall retain various areas of lime plaster, mainly, but not exclusively, surviving to the upper floor level.
The hall’s roof structure consists of three tie beam and collared trusses with pegged joints supporting ridge purlins and two sets of side purlins to each roof slope. The common rafters, the ridge purlins and about a couple of the side purlins appear to be modern sawn replacements, but the vast majority of the side purlins and all of the trusses are likely to be C18 or earlier, probably contemporary with the raising of the eaves. Many of these timbers appear to be reused with redundant housings and peg holes. Several of the purlins have regular spaced holes and may be reused wall plates from a timber framed building, the holes potentially being for staves for wattle and daub walling.
Byre and hayloft: The joists for the hayloft floor above are relatively recent sawn softwood, but the two beams supporting them are undressed round wood timbers that could be original. Immediately inside the hayloft doorway there is a small area of lime ash flooring. The roof structure is similar to that of the hall except that it has a single truss that is formed with a tie beam but with no collar. One of the principal rafters of the truss is curved and is possibly a reused cruck blade. The ridge and a couple of the side purlins are sawn softwood replacements, but most are likely to be original, some being clearly reused timbers.
History
The dispersed settlement of Knipe in the medieval parish of Bampton, derives its name from the Old Norse, gnípa 'steep or overhanging rock' referencing the rocky scarp, Knipe Scar. The settlement is referred to in medieval documents from the C13 onwards and was divided into two lordships generally referred to as Knipe Patrik and Knipe Cundal, possibly the origin of the modern division between Low and High Knipe. The 1669-1672 Hearth Tax records note that there were 20 households in Knipe, eight of which were exempted from the tax because of poverty, all bar three of the remaining households only having a single hearth each. The 1674-1675 Hearth Tax indicates that the houses at Knipe with more than one hearth were at Knipe Hall and High Knipe.
Surviving architectural features and details in the stonework indicates that the building was a hall house in origin, initially single storey with a steeper pitched roof. The building certainly pre-dates the mid-C17 and is most likely to have been built before 1700 by a yeoman farmer of respectable means. However, given the larger than normal size of the house, it was possibly originally built considerably earlier as a minor gentry house, subsequently occupied by a yeoman farmer by the C17. It was presumably assessed as a single-hearthed dwelling for the Hearth Tax. The substantial boulders used for the foundations, the re-used timbers supporting the chimney stack and at least one of the principal rafters being a possible reused cruck blade all hint at the possibility that the building evolved from a late-medieval cruck-framed hall: for instance at least one, possibly all four of the timbers supporting the chimney appear to be former saddle pieces which would have linked the tops of paired cruck blades to support the ridge purlin. As a yeoman’s hall house, the building is actually relatively large, being of four bays rather than the more usual two or three bays, which is why it was potentially built for a modest member of the gentry, perhaps in the early C16, although it is unlikely to have still been a gentry house by the C17. The hall house is architecturally modest with no elaboration, with the window openings formed with rough stonework, lacking details typical of domestic buildings of the C17 such as drip courses, stone mullions, monolithic or dressed jambs all suggesting that the hall house is a relatively early example of its type, originating in the C16. The hall house underwent a series of improvements including the raising of the eaves line to create an upper floor and the addition of a spiral stair projecting from the east side. The upper floor windows are similarly simply detailed to those of the ground floor suggesting that this heightening also took place before 1700. Evidence of the raising of the eaves line is most clearly seen on the exterior of the west wall where the stonework above the projecting drip course is of a different character to the stonework below, the drip course being the original eaves line. Evidence of heightening of the east wall is more subtle and just based on a change in stonework (with larger, rounder stones used for the original wall with more angular, smaller and flaggy stones used for the heightening). There are also more subtle hints in the stonework of the south gable end and the internal cross wall that indicate that the roof was probably originally more steeply pitched (and presumably heather-thatched) before the eaves were raised. The projection for the spiral staircase butts up against the east wall rather than being fully bonded into the stonework showing that it was an addition after the raising of the eaves line. The domestic window openings, although simply formed within the rubble stonework of the walling with no framing beyond a stone or timber lintel, generally have a neatly formed internal splay showing that they were deliberately formed windows rather than rough openings opportunistically knocked through for light or ventilation. The openings were presumably originally fitted with timber framing, the proportions suggesting that these were mainly two-light mullion windows, however given the early date and the relatively modest status of the house, it is likely that most, perhaps all, were never glazed because of the high cost of glass: Instead the openings would have been provided with some form of shuttering for use in bad weather – the word window originally meant a hole open to the wind. The ground floor of the byre at the northern end of the hall house appears to be contemporary with the ground floor of the hall, with the hayloft above built after the eaves line had been raised. There is some evidence of a possible blocked doorway between the hall house and the byre (although this may have been a shelved alcove instead). If it was a doorway, the byre may possibly have been used as a downhouse, a secondary kitchen often used as a scullery, for brewing and storage. However, the byre is considered more likely to have always been in agricultural use.
The sooting to the wall leading up to the chimney shows the broadly splayed extent of the smokehood to the original ground floor inglenook fireplace. Within the eastern side of this area of sooting there is a more narrowly splayed recess formed in the stonework leading directly to the chimney. This rises from just above a long horizontal stone embedded in the wall that may be the truncated remains of a first-floor hearthstone. This suggests an early improvement to the house with the provision of a directly heated first-floor room following modification to the earlier smokehood. Because both hearths used the same chimney this improvement is likely to have been missed by the Hearth Tax but may have been an improvement made after 1675.
At some point, probably in the C18, the hall house ceased to be used domestically and was converted into a barn. This entailed the insertion of a cart entrance into the east wall and the blocking of most of the window openings, reducing some to ventilation slits. The cart entrance is thought to have replaced the original house’s entrance, this being sited on the relatively sheltered east side of the building. This insertion involved the removal of the bressumer beam which would have supported the smoke hood, a socket in the west wall now infilled with brickwork shows where the bressumer beam was originally positioned. An area of rebuilding, also using bricks, of the halls’ northern wall suggests that the heck partition (forming the eastern side of the inglenook fireplace below the smoke hood) was a masonry wall which was also removed as part of the conversion into a barn. The large opening, with a timber lintel, to the centre of the west wall may have been enlarged as part of the conversion to agricultural use. Although this is in the position expected to be the largest window of the hall house, lighting the main living area, its sill has been lowered and the opening was probably enlarged as part of the conversion into a barn to provide a winnowing opening (to provide a cross breeze to assist in threshing just inside the cart entrance). The timber lintels to the cart entrance are reused timbers and could well have been first floor beams removed from the house during its conversion into a barn.
It is not known which farm the barn was connected with. The first edition Ordnance Survey 1:10560 map surveyed 1860 shows the building together with an outbuilding extended at right angles to the south-east, this reported to have been a pigsty. The site of this outbuilding, which was ruinous by 2022, had been cleared by the time of the site inspection. The Lowther Estate sold the building in 2023 for conversion back into domestic use, the building having become redundant, although the estate or their tenant had repaired the roof, gables and internal crosswall. At the time of the site inspection, work had started on the conversion, the flooring and fittings in the byre having been removed, and some work started on re-opening former windows.
Reasons for Listing
The former yeoman's hall house, Bumblebee Barn at NY 5162 1996, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* for its vernacular architectural interest as a rare surviving example of a yeoman’s hall house pre-dating the mid-C17, its simple plan form directly derived from those thought to have been built in the late-medieval period;
* for the survival of evidence of the way that the building has evolved over time: a possible cruck-framed predecessor, the early improvement with the addition of the first floor, and then, probably in the C18, the conversion to agricultural use;
* for the extensive survival of a relatively early roof structure incorporating reused timbers from an even earlier structure.
External Links
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
Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability