History

A farmhouse with late-medieval origins, perhaps as a single-cell, 1-storey timber framed structure, enlarged and extended in the C17 and at later dates, including C19 conversion as a vicarage, when an extension at the S end linked it to a barn which was then converted for domestic use. Restoration in the 1990s uncovered various early features.

Exterior

A long rambling 2-storeyed building with an L-shaped plan, formed by an original house on a N-S axis and successive extensions to the S, with the former barn as a W wing to the S end. Built of rendered rubble painted white, with blue slate roofs on differing levels and C19 red brick chimneys. In the C19 conversion a "front door" with entrance hall was built on the E side of the S end, approached by a path from the S, the original farmhouse being relegated to a service wing; but the present entrance front is towards the former farmyard on the W side. The higher N part of the main range, which has 4 1st-floor windows, has a large square ridge chimney stack offset slightly S of the centre, identifying 2 unequal bays of the interior which are the earliest elements of the building. The openings are irregular, including a segmental-headed doorway offset left of centre, another doorway and 3 small windows to the left, 2 larger windows to the right (casements of 3 and 2 lights), and 4 casements at 1st floor (2 each side of the ridge chimney). There is another chimney at the N gable. A lower 2-storey, 2-window range to the right has a pentice roof over the ground floor, protecting a window and the present main entrance; 2 small windows at 1st-floor; and a tall ridge chimney. To the right is a full-height lean-to with a carried-down roof, linked to a similar lean-to projected from the N side of the converted barn wing. The rear (E side) has a continuous elevation, irregularly fenestrated with various casements and includes 2 doorways and a tall stairwindow to the C19 extension.

Interior

The principle features of interest are in the two N bays, the 1st of which appears to represent (it has been suggested) the original single-storey hall-house and the 2nd a C17 parlour extension. They are separated by a deep chimney stack with a connecting lobby to the W and a staircase to the E. The room to the N (which had been converted into a dairy and larder, and is now the kitchen) has chamfered lateral beams, and the only other surviving evidence of its probable original form is a lobby in the NE corner (now enclosed by a recently-restored stud-and-panel partition) which has an old oak Tudor-arched inner doorway (apparently representing the former gable-end lobby entry beside a chimney stack subsequently removed). In the parlour to the S (now the dining room) the chimney stack contains a restored fireplace with stone jambs and a heavy oak lintel. To the left (W) is a massive oak doorcase to the lobby; to the right, a straight flight of wooden stairs. The ceiling is of very broad boards carried on 4 stop-chamfered lateral beams: the first is against the chimney-breast wall, and the second has long vacant mortices of former stud-and-panel partitioning at each end, and the mortice of a former post in the centre (suggesting that there was a cross-passage in this position before the chimney stack was inserted, with a pair of service rooms on it S side). At 1st floor timber-framing is now exposed in the W wall: 4 heavy studs mounted on a rail which appears to represent the wallplate of a former 1-storey wall, with the head of a wall-post visible beneath its N end.
Otherwise, the only other features of interest are those associated with the C19 vicarage phase: the S end contains an entrance hall with a Victorian "Jacobethan" stair, a good chimney piece in the same style, and ex situ genuine Jacobean panelling dated "1661 TW" (brought in from Penrhos church in 1847).

Reasons for Listing

Listed for its late-medieval and C17 origins as well as for its good interior.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29482865

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

• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)