Building Recording 2010 - 11
Introduction.
All surveys summarised below are attributed to the work of SVBRG for the year commencing September 2010. Our village studies continue: both in Trent, now in Dorset but formerly in Somerset, and in the parish of Winscombe as part of the community study of the area under the leadership of Mick Aston. In addition to the systematic settlement recording, a number of individual buildings in other parts of the county have been surveyed. The 53 surveys have revealed wide variations in the period of build and vernacular detail; 4 are potential longhouses and 22 were built before the mid C16th. Consideration is given to our dendrochronology results, based on similar timber structures elsewhere in the county when dating C16th or earlier properties. As always, the Group is indebted to the owners and occupiers of the various properties for their generosity in allowing access. Copies of the full SVBRG reports and survey drawings have been deposited in the National Monuments Record at Swindon and the Somerset Heritage Centre or the Dorset History Centre, as appropriate.
Surveys:-
1 Bishops Hull. Newly Farmhouse. ST198 247
The present plan reflects the original build; a standard Yeoman three-room plan of Kitchen (large inglenook fireplace, oven and curing chamber alongside), Cross Passage, heated Hall (lateral stack) and Inner Room. The walls are rough cast with a steeply pitched decorative clay tiled roof, barge-boarded at the gable ends. It was thatched, of one and half storeys and built of cob. A date ca. 1575 is substantiated by the 12 cm. deep chamfers on the framed ceiling of the Hall, step and run-out stops on an Inner Room beam and remnants of cob in the roof space. Early in the C18th extensive remodelling/ rebuilding created first floor accommodation in a two-storey, local-brick house with an overarching roof, comprising Parlour (with attic room over for servant accommodation or cheese storage), Hall and Kitchen with Service Rooms along the north and east sides. The former cross passage was blocked by a new fireplace. A large fireplace, perhaps with baking oven and curing chamber, created a Kitchen in the former Inner Room.
2 Bruton. Quaperlake Street, Quaperlake House. ST 683 349
This report amends one of Oct. 2010. The property is conjoined with houses on three sides and attached on the north side to a range of non-domestic buildings (perhaps C17th poor workers cottages) and a barton. It is built of local stone rubble, formerly rendered. Walls of uniform thickness and the plan, three rooms in-line with cross-passage, suggests a rural Yeomans farmhouse however three principal phases of development are probable. An initial build in the early C16th is indicated at the kitchen (lower roofed, eastern) end by the roof structure, including wind-bracing, and diagonal stops on the fireplace. This was probably part of a property extending to the east. Early to mid C17th the Parlour and its chamber were constructed. Shortly afterwards, ca. 1688 (dendro-date of trusses), the central area, Hall and Cross-passage, appears to have been rebuilt. Substantial up-grading of the whole house followed; wooden floors were inserted in the two principal rooms (the Parlour and the Hall), the walls in the Hall were panelled (fielded dado panels topped with a bolection moulded rail), ovolo moulded surrounds were inserted at the Cross-passage doorways, the pedimented timber porch hood was added. The roof and windows were raised and attics incorporated creating three rooms. In the late C19th/ C20th window openings on the south front were adapted and sash windows inserted alongside other, internal, modifications.
3 Buckland St. Mary. Moorseek Cottage. ST 256 137.
This is a two storey construction, comprising two principal rooms with modern additions. The colour washed cob walls are clad with local stone. Only small sections of the original arch-braced, jointed cruck roof with wind-braces remain. A truss is heavily smoke-blackened on all sides indicating that it was central to a single-storey two-bay open-hall, even possibly a longhouse, ca 1400, for someone of Yeoman status. Another, closed, truss indicates an unheated room at the north end perhaps with a Solar chamber over. Around 1600 the lower end of the house was destroyed and the south wall of the Hall consolidated and a fireplace with oven inserted. The Hall probably remained open to the roof until late in the C17th. Extensive modernisation and additions occurred late in the C20th.
4 Chipstable. Trowell Farmhouse. ST 048 260.
Possibly a former longhouse, this property is of two storeys, 3-rooms in line with an integral cross-passage and later north wing. The walls are rough cast over local rubble stone, exposed at the east gable. The roof is hipped at the west gable, thatched and in two distinct parts; the original 3-rooms in line range roof is largely smoke-blackened whilst the north wing is clean. In the former the trusses have long-tenoned jointed crucks; one truss rises from the ground. Smoke blackening and the roof structure indicate an early C15th date of build comprising an Open Hall with central fire hearth and an unheated Inner-room with Solar chamber above, accessed by turret stairs. East of the cross-passage was an unheated Service area or, as the land slopes away significantly, an animal byre. During the C16th the north, Parlour, wing was built and a first floor was inserted over the Hall with low (eyebrow) windows set in the thatch.
5 Enmore. Tirelands Farm. ST 241 345.
This property was surveyed by R.G.Gilson in 1987; we concur with his findings and have up-dated where appropriate. The house, Grade II*, dates from the C15th and C16th with C19th alterations. It is built of rubble stone with some colour washed render and brick. The roof is supported by jointed crucks and windbraces. It has bitumenised slate and tile roofs and an L shaped plan with a projecting tower (believed to have been an observation tower for stag-hunting on the northern slopes of the Quantock Hills). The 8 holes on its south elevation are putlog holes originally for anchoring scaffolding, now used as shelter holes by doves. A two-storey garderobe tower originally included a first floor chamber with 2 closets. One closet has a pierced stone window with sunken spandrels, a stone lined outlet-shute remains. Direct access had been from the Parlour Chamber and, by narrow winding stairs, from the Parlour itself. The beams which comprise the framed ceiling in the Parlour are finely moulded and compare with those at Old Low Ham Manor Farmhouse, dendro-dated to 1480. A full history of Enmore parish is included in the VCH for Somerset Vol. VI. (photo, Mike Hargreaves)
6 Fivehead. Lower Swell, Langford Fivehead, The Manor House. ST 358 229.
The Manor is a Double E plan, with through passage and hall, and 2 storeys plus attic. It is of coursed-and-squared lias construction with Ham stone dressings. The roof is of slate with coped verges, bases for finials and largely ashlar stacks. Wall thicknesses and roof structure indicate that the central east/west range was the earliest part of the house. The roof structure, 2 arch-braced collar trusses and evidence of windbracing, suggests a mid C15th date of build. Fireplaces, with incised spandrels to the 4-centred head, suggest that the north wings were built during the C16th when it is likely that first floor chambers were added throughout. The two front wings and both the gabled 3-storey central porches were probably added in the C17th. The east front wing was formerly a Kitchen and evidence remains of a 2 storey curing chamber and corn/malt drying kiln on either side of the fireplace. Extensive internal alterations occurred in the 20th century when many features from other buildings were incorporated, together with Jacobean plasterwork. (photo, Mike Hargreaves)
7 Fivehead. Lower Swell, Dairy Cottage. ST 358 229.
This house, in the grounds of Langford Manor, is two storey with a three rooms in-line plan. A two-storey modern addition to the SW replaces an earlier extension. It is built of local rubble lias stone with a slate roof and coped gables with a Ham stone capping. The roof is supported by five tie-and-collar beam sectioned trusses; two tie-beams and an axial beam are chamfered with step and run-out stops. It is likely that a house existed on this site from 16th century, probably then three rooms in-line but only 1! storey. Ca 1600 the roof was raised/replaced and first floor windows, with Hamstone mullions and surrounds, inserted. A window jamb has the remains of a circular apotropaic (witch) mark. It seems likely that the building was used for farm orientated activities corn drying, malting, brewing etc. - hence the need for the two-storey curing chamber and a corn kiln. In the C19th domestic usage was reinstated and a baking oven inserted in the base of the corn kiln.
8 Forton. Manor Farm. ST335 071
RG Gilson reported on this possible long house, a two-storey property, in 1990. It was three rooms in-line with a cross passage; the Inner Room, now gone, may have had a Solar over with a small cross passage chamber jettied into the Hall. The extensive low end was either a service room or a byre. A mid C15th date of build is indicated by the previously thatched, smoke blackened roof structure supported on jointed crucks (oak too fast grown for dendro). The two bays of this Open Hall contain chamfered wind-braces and purlins with step and run-out stops. In the late C16th a lateral stack fireplace was inserted in the Hall and the room ceiled with an elaborate, 9 panelled framed ceiling. A depressed four-centred head fireplace was inserted in the Hall Chamber. This room was embellished with extensive wall paintings in the C17th. The low end, partitioned at the cross-passage with wattle and daub, was converted to domestic use and two more fireplaces inserted. The Inner Room was demolished in the C20th. This is a high status building with similarities to Lytes Cary Manor House and Whitestaunton Manor. (photo, John Rickard)
9 Kilve. Main Street, The Hood Arms. ST 148 429.
The plan is three rooms in-line with additions on the north side and two storeys. It is constructed of local rubble stone clad with render (grooved as ashlar). The slate roofs overhang the eaves. The current roof is supported by king-post trusses, the ghost of an earlier, steeper pitch is visible on the central stack. There was an inn at Kilve in 1689 (VCH) and the front wall thickness (68cm) and ceiling beams (8cm chamfers with cyma stops) suggest a late C17th build. The property was one-and-a-half storey, thatched and encompassing the two western rooms. Further west there was stabling and a brew/cider house. The east wing and the buildings on the north elevation were probably added for accommodation/storage during the C18th/C19th. In the mid/late C19th the walls of the south front were raised and refenestrated and the new roof inserted.
10 Kingsdon, Gardeners Cottage. ST 517 260.
A semi-detached cottage constructed of cut and squared local lias stone with Ham stone dressings, a Welsh slate roof with a stepped coped gable to the south and a yellow brick chimney stack. The major part of the building is two-storey with a cat-slide outshut and a stair-turret with lias stone treads, the remainder is one-and-half storey. A mid C16th date of build is suggested based on one jointed cruck (smoke blackened and with legs extending to a metre above floor level) and a consistent wall thickness. The main house then comprised Service Room (open to the roof and including a smoke-bay possibly with curing chamber and corn drying kiln on either side), Cross-passage, Hall and Inner Room(both ceiled over with the former hearth contained in a smoke-hood). Early in the C17th the Hall and Inner Room were up-graded; the walls, windows and roof were raised and the turret stairs added. Ham stone mullioned windows and stone fireplaces were inserted in both rooms (F1 has a 4-centred head with ogee-step-hollow mouldings terminating in a step and pedestal stop). The outshut (with loft over) was built. At the low end the Service/Kitchen and Cross-passage were ceiled and the smoke-bay became a fireplace with oven and curing chamber. Late in the C17th the north wall and roof over the kitchen were raised. Early in thC19th a dairy and wash-house were built as kitchen wings.
11 North Cadbury, Ridgeway Lane, Ridgeway Farm.
The house is two storey with a three rooms in-line plan plus additions. It is constructed from roughly cut and squared local stone, with a thatched roof between coped gables. The main roof comprises 4-bays supported by tie-beam trusses with a pair of butt-purlins on each side. A 1600 date of build is suggested by the 65cm thickness of the rear and south gable wall, a Doulting stone fireplace (4-centred depressed head with incised spandrels and ogee-step-round mouldings), a partition (formerly extending through both floors and infilled above the collar suggesting closure to the ridge and use of attic space either domestically or for storage) and 2 Doulting stone windows with ovolo moulded mullions and surrounds. In the early C18th two rear service rooms were built, probably as dairy and cheese room with the lean-to roof following the pitch of the main roof. A two storey kitchen and chamber were added to the eastern end of the house. Late in the C18th a wring-house for cider making with an apple-loft over accessed by an outside staircase was added.
12 Seavington St Mary. Townsend. 1 & 2 Southern Ways. ST 398 148.
The house is of one-and-half storey, three rooms in-line and cross-passage plan with minor modern additions. It is built of random coursed, rubble Ham stone with walls 65cm thick. The thatched roof has a coped east gable but is half hipped to the west. It is supported on four jointed-cruck trusses. There is light sooting of the roof structure to the east of a closed truss; the possible presence of former wind-eyes above the upper purlin in the front roof would have helped to disperse the smoke. An early C16th date of build is suggested; the construction is likely to have been of cob comprising Service room, Cross-passage, Hall and Buttery/Pantry with Solar chamber over. The Service room and Hall would have been open to the roof and heated respectively by a smoke-bay and a smoke-hood. Substantial up-grading occurred in the C17th; the walls were rebuilt in stone, the Service room and Hall were ceiled, the Service room became a Kitchen cum Dairy with the insertion of a fireplace, oven and curing chamber, the room above perhaps becoming a cheese store, and eye-brow dormer windows were inserted in the new upper floor. In the late C19th the property was divided at the cross-passage to form two dwellings.
13 Sherborne( Dorset). Acreman St. Nos. 23 & 25. ST652 124.
These houses, built of stone rubble with thatched roofs, were constructed in the late C18th as part of a terrace of four single unit (estate) cottages, each comprising a living room, rear scullery and two bedrooms.
14 Somerton. The Square, Tudor Cottage. ST491 285
This prominent town centre property was the subject of a 1974 report by EDH Williams. The plan, two rooms wide with a central entrance leading to a wooden, C19th replacement spiral stair on the rear north wall. Both floors and attic above the cellar comprise two rooms. The roughly squared white lias stone walls, with ham stone dressings, are 75cm thick at cellar level reducing to 65cm for the first and attic floors. The lias slab cellar floor provides access to the internal well. The steeply pitched (51) roof, now clad with clay pan-tiles and with stepped, coped gables, is supported on heavy, elm collar trusses. Several early C17th fireplaces are of ham stone with depressed four-centred heads, hollow-step-ogee moulding and pedestal-stopped jambs. One, a herring-bone patterned lias stone fire-back and plain chamfered jambs with half-pyramid stops, dating from 1600, is likely to have belonged to an earlier house on site, see photo. Architectural features for this property suggest construction in the early C17th with gentrification in the mid C17th; refronting, with matching ham stone masonry for the doorways and hollow chamfered mullion windows; fireplaces were inserted or relocated. Town houses are subject to frequent changes of style and usage. Evidence from an 1806 Enclosure Map and a drawing of 1812 suggests a former north, possibly service, wing now part of an adjacent building. Its use as a shop by 1812 is indicated in an illustration. It belonged to William Pinney, MP for Somerton Randle, about 1870 when dormer windows were added to the south elevation. (photo, John Rickard)
15 Stogumber. Vellow Road, Togford. ST 098 376.
The house is of one and half-storey and three unit cross-passage plan with non domestic lean-to buildings at the rear. It is built of red sandstone rubble. A thatched roof, hipped at one end is supported on two jointed-cruck trusses, a post-and-truss partition is filled to the apex. Stone stacks are to be found at the left gable end and to the right of the cross passage. Eye brow windows light the upper floor. It is likely that it was built in the mid C16th as a Yeomans farmhouse comprising the Service Room (later the Kitchen), the Cross-passage, Hall and unheated Inner Room. Documentary evidence confirms its existence in 1623. The Kitchen contained a large fireplace with rear brick-lined oven sandwiched between a curing chamber and a circular corn drying / barley malting kiln.
16 Stoke St. Mary. Fyrse Cottage. ST 262 223.
The thatched, unsmoke-blackened roof structure, with some jointed crucks rising from near floor level, and the substantial wall thicknesses indicate a mid C16th build. The house was then 1! storey and comprised Hall, Inner Room, Cross Passage and Kitchen with a Curing Chamber. An apotropaic mark occurs on the left jamb, lias stone, of the front entrance doorway; fear of witches was at its height in the C17th. A date stone Thomas Fyrse 1658 may have been inscribed at the same time. In the C18th it is likely that the house was divided at the Cross Passage and a set of wooden stairs inserted to supplement the existing wooden winders and permit occupation by two families.. It was refenestrated in the early C20th.
17 Stourton Caundle (N. Dorset) High St. Gwyers.
At the request of the owners the survey report has not been deposited in the public archives.
18 Taunton. Sherford Road. The Croft. ST227 232.
A two storey core sited east-west with buildings added on each elevation. The walls, of stone, cob and brick, are roughcast. The roof, formerly thatched, is clad with clay tiles. Windows are modern replacements with the exception of a timber one, which has the remnants of a trefoil-head and transom. Built in the C15th as a yeomans property it was an Open Hall house with an Inner Room at the east end and a Service area (buttery and pantry) beyond the cross-way, not then an enclosed passage. The roof is supported on jointed-cruck trusses rise from near ground level with wattle and daub closed post and truss construction. Smoke blackening is confined to the area over the Hall suggesting a (Solar) chamber at each end of the property. In the mid C16th, 1577 is recorded on a fireplace lintel, considerable upgrading occurred included the insertion of the Hall chimney stack and fireplace and ceilings at ground floor level. Beam 2 in the Hall has an 18cm, slightly concave chamfer. In the C17th it is likely that the Service / Low end would have been converted to a Kitchen but a subsequent fire has destroyed all evidence of this. In the C18th the eastern end of the property was truncated.
19 Trent (Dorset). The Chantry House. ST 581 591
The Chantry is two storey, formerly with the upper storey open to the roof, with a later single-storey addition and a two room, Hall and Service room, plan. The Service room has opposing doors but no evidence of a Screens / Cross-passage. It is constructed of Junction Bed rubble limestone. Hamstone is used for the dressed stone quoins, door mouldings, window surrounds and mullions. The roof is clay tiled with Hamstone-gable copings. It is supported by 5 collar trusses of which three are principals with curved feet. A post-and-truss partition, closed with wattle and daub to the collar, divides the building axially. An arch-braced truss is centrally positioned over the Hall and two former tiers of wind-braces are indicated. There are short octagonal stone stacks with cornices at each gable; that on the south-east wall sits over an original stack embrasure. The details of the 2 principal doorways, a probable ground floor garderobe chamber door, the seven transomed cinquefoil windows, the beams (hollow-step-ogee moulding with converging stops), the roof structure and gable stacks suggest a mid C15th date of build. Both ground floor rooms were heated with fireplaces on the gables. Late in the C15th the Hall gable fireplace was replaced by a lateral stack on the south wall, indicative of status. The Hamstone surround has moulded jambs and a square head with a row of three quatrefoils above; the central one contains a Tudor Rose (ca. 1475). Ca 1547, at the suppression of Chantries, the house became a private dwelling. Ceilings were inserted in the first floor chamber. Ca 1800 an addition was built on the SW gable and a doorway cut through. (photo, John Rickard)
20 Trent (Dorset), The Rose & Crown Inn. ST 590 185.
The plan is of two offset, but almost parallel ranges linked by a connecting range; all were one-and-a-half-storey, but the front range was rebuilt partially in brick to become a two storey block offering further accommodation. The front range wall thickness (60cm.) suggest an early C18th build. The rear range was a slightly later addition (walls of 50cm thickness), a double width door indicating an original use as stables. The linking building must have been in place by 1795 (Seymour Estate Map), a C20th conservatory has been inserted alongside. The roofs to the east and west are part thatched and all the remaining roof slopes are slate clad except for the modern conservatory roof; some stone gable-coping remains in situ. The walls are of random rubble stone and the gabled slate porch is carried on wooden posts. Windows are wooden casements, those on the upper floor of the south range are under eyebrow thatching. (photo, Images of England 105714)
21 Trent (Dorset). Down Lane, Down Farmhouse. ST 601 184
The house is two-storey, with former attic, and three-rooms-in-line plan with an addition on each gable. It is constructed of rendered and painted rubble stone walls some 80cm thick. The roof, supported by four trusses, is thatched with gable coping. The generous thickness of the main walls, details of the beams (8cm chamfers and cyma stops), the window mullions (ovolo mouldings) and the roof structure indicate a mid C17th build when it comprised Living-room/Kitchen, Service-room and Parlour. A date stone of 1699 indicates some change and documentary evidence suggests that the house was divided to accommodate two branches of the same family. No structural evidence for this division remains. In the late C18th a degree of up-grading (field panelled doors and partitions) occurred in the bedrooms.
22 Trent (Dorset). Abels Lane, Home Farmhouse. ST596 186.
The plan comprises a main 2-storey east-west range containing 3 rooms in line and a cross-passage. The roof structure (jointed-cruck trusses with legs reaching almost to the ground) and smoke blackening suggest remnants of a mid C15th Open Hall house possibly constructed of cob. Late in the C16th major upgrading involved the replacing of the cob walls with stone, the creation of two stacks and fireplaces along with the raising of the roof and insertion of an upper floor to include attics. It then became the traditional Kitchen, Cross-passage, Hall and unheated Inner Room Yeoman construction. Single-storey additions were added as Service rooms on the north face. Early C18th gentrifying involved 2 further stacks and fireplaces as the Inner Room became the Parlour. Early in the C19th a slaughterhouse was built and the Service rooms were used for butchery purposes and a shop. A second storey was built over them and a catslide roof inserted. (photo, Mike Hargreaves)
23 Trent (Dorset). The Old Mill and Mill House. ST 590 180
The mill-house, part local rubble stone and part local brick, is two storey with two rooms on each floor. The attached mill, of local rubble-stone with some large Ham stone quoins, now comprises three storeys and attic. The mill-house is thatched and the mill building roofed with flat clay tiles. The roof of the mill-house is supported by open-trusses comprising principals with one butt-purlin each side and a threaded ridge-piece. Over the mill the principals are linked with a pair of tusk-tenoned purlins each side. The fireplace in the mill has a monolithic Ham stone lintel with a circular apotropaic (witch) mark. Documented from the C16th remnants of an earlier mill are incorporated into this house; some wall thicknesses suggest 1700 whilst the roof suggests 1800. The mill-house probably dates from ca 1700. Martin Watts suggests that the mill and a bakery were combined with a house added ca 1700 and the mill rebuilt to contain more machinery later in the C18th. (photo, Mike Hargreaves)
24 Trent (Dorset). Sherborne Road, Manor Farmhouse. ST 593 186.
The house is double-pile, two storey with attics and additions on the east-front gable. It is built of coursed rubble-stone and has stone slate and slate roofs with stone gable-copings and moulded kneelers. The ridges are parallel and there are C20th brick stacks at the gable ends. Both ranges have roof trusses of collar and tie-beam construction. A mid C17th build is suggested, although the history notes suggest earlier. It was then two-storey with attics over two units. The back range probably dates from the late C17th. A wing, in-line with the front range of the house, is thought to have been a C19th dairy/cheese room with loft over. Extensive alterations occurred during the C20th. (photo, Mike Hargreaves)
25 Trent (Dorset), Sherbone Rd, No 10 Post Office Cottage. ST 695 186.
The house is of two-unit and central cross-passage plan with a rear two-storey addition. It comprises coursed rubble stone walls some 53 76 cm thick with dressed stone quoins, a thatched roof and brick gable end chimney stacks. The front range roof is supported by two side-pegged long-tenon jointed cruck trusses. The wall thicknesses, the crucks and smoke blackening at the western end suggest a C15th Open Hall house. The small amount of smoke blackening at the eastern end implies a first floor Solar, perhaps accessed by a ladder. Early in the C17th an upper floor and fireplace were inserted in the Hall; the remainder of the ground floor may then have comprised the cross-passage and an unheated Service Room. Low, eyebrow windows may have lit the upper floor. The rear addition was probably built in the C18th; it is likely that the walls and roof of the front range were raised at this time.
26 Trent (Dorset). Plot Lane, Chevet, No. 26. ST 899 186.
The house was two storey with single and two storey additions. It was probably a two room central entry (staircase/hall) property. The walls are of local rubble-stone, 46cm thick. The original parts of the shallow pitched roof are clad in slate. The roof structure suggests that the house dates from the end of the C18th. It was extensively altered and additions built in the C20th.
27 Trent (Dorset). Plot Lane, No 27. ST899 185.
This house is conjoined with 28. The plan is two storey, three rooms in line with a lean-to on the N gable. The rubble walls are 55cm thick, the roof is thatched and the stack of brick. This and the property below feature on the Tithe Map & Apportionment, 1840, indicating that these were four tenements leased to the Overseers of the Poor. The four first floor windows dispersed along the back wall supports this view.
28 Trent (Dorset), Plot Lane, No 28. ST 899 185.
The house, co-joined with No. 27, is two-storey with a two room, central entry plan. The walls are of local Junction Bed limestone, 55cm thick. The roof is thatched and the stacks are of brick.
29 Trent (Dorset). Rigg Lane, Orchard Corner. ST 597 186.
The plan is L shaped with additions and two storey. It is mainly constructed from rubble-stone with ashlar quoins. The clay-tile roof has stone gable-copings and is supported on king-post trusses. The gable end stone stacks have projecting cornices. Thick, 66cm, walls at the centre of the property are probably the remnants of a building shown on the C18th Wyndham Estate Map and reflected on the 1840 tithe map. Later wall thicknesses, 48cm, and the roof structure over the front range suggest a substantial rebuild with additions in the mid C19th; the 1886 O.S. map confirms that the two-storey south front and the rear service rooms and servants quarters belong to this period. (photo, Mike Hargreaves)
30 Trent (Dorset). Rigg Lane, No.42. ST598 188.
The plan is two storey, three rooms in-line and cross passage with lean to domestic buildings on the west elevation. This property had a complex evolution from a possible longhouse. A C15th origin of build is indicated by the remnants of the roof structure, long-tenon jointed-cruck trusses and wind-bracing, and smoke-blackened timbers. It was then single storey comprising Inner Room with Solar over, a Hall and a byre / Service room. Remnants of the early roof structure remain enclosed within the C18th. roof. In the late C16th the positions of the Hall and Inner room were switched and a Smoke Bay inserted at the gable end of the newly sited Hall. The half beam fronting it has a 14cm chamfer and a step and run-out stop. In the mid C17th a fireplace, stack and newel stairs were constructed in the Smoke Bay gable and an upper floor was inserted throughout, the Hall acquiring a framed ceiling. The low, south, end may have become a dairy with cheese room over. Early in the C18th a two-storey addition was built at the north end to form a cross passage and new Kitchen. The walls and roof of the main house were raised and the dairy became non-domestic. Early in the C19th the house was divided at the cross passage for occupation by two families necessitating the insertion of a second staircase.
31 Trent (Dorset). The Rectory and Glebe House. ST 591 185.
The property is detached and was divided into two dwellings in 1953; Glebe House occupies the east end of the east range. It is a complex building of rubble-stone walls with ashlar facings to the principal elevations and a slate roof with stone gable-copings. The West range, the original house, is a 2! storey unit with walls 55-70cm thick. The roof is supported by four trusses with indications of curved feet dating them to the early C16th. Windows in the south and north gables have Ham stone mullions with hollow chamfers. The stair turret is contemporary. The Rev. C Gardiner up-graded the house between 1723 -32 by refenestrating the west front (sash windows with flat and hollow-step moulded architraves). Internally he installed the moulded skirtings, dados, panelling, cornices, shutters and fireplaces. The north entrance door also dates from this time. A cellar is attributed to the Rev. G Beaver (1770-1802). It has a reset C15th door with moulded jambs, depressed-arch head and foliage carving in the spandrels. The south and part of the back range was built by Rev W H Turner in the mid C19th.
32 Wellington Without. Beacon Lane Farm. ST 314 117.
An early C17th date is proposed; the farmhouse was demolished in the early C20th The remaining buildings comprise stables for two horses with a hay-loft, a 5 bay linhay with a hay-loft, a 5 bay cow shed, each bay accommodating 2 cows and a threshing barn with tall, opposing doors. Additionally wall remains suggest a former cart/wagon house and a rick yard. The walls of the buildings are of Chert rubble with C19th alterations in brick. Roofs are now clad with corrugated-iron but most had previously been thatched.
33 Winscombe, Church Road, The Brook. ST 415 571.
The plan comprises a central unit of four rooms under a king-post supported, gabled roof. A lesser unit under a late C18th hipped roof is added to each gable; that to the north formerly providing a back kitchen and bake/wash house. This rustic Italianate style of build has a shallow pitched, deeply overhanging slate roof on front and side elevations. The windows are six over six sash units set symmetrically around and over the main, circular headed door. A porch with Regency style roof is supported on a wrought iron frame. A ground floor window to the front and two to the rear have been extended into canted bays. The external walls of the main house are all 50 cm thick and are presumed to be a rubble construction of local stone: all elevations are rendered and painted. Fireplaces have all been modified with the exception of F1 which retains a fine shell-shaped iron hearth surround. The site has certainly been occupied since 1792 (Dean & Chapter of Wells Map) but in 1857 an extract of title refers to the newly erected messuage......being known by the name Great Pile House; the O.S. map of 1884 shows the current house. (photo, John Rickard)
34 Winscombe. The Green. No 11. ST420 574
This property, constructed of rendered local pennant stone is in a terrace of cottages, once the Poor House. Consequently it sits under a continuous double pile roof. The eaves at the rear have been raised to accommodate bigger windows. Documentary evidence suggests that the cottages were built ca 1795; the wall thickness (50cm.) and roof structure support this.
35 Winscombe. Sandford Road, No 65 Hillcrest Farm. ST 418 583
This rendered and painted house comprises two one-and-a-half storey ranges; the main range aligned east-west and the other north-south. Both have C20th single storey gable lean-to extensions. Based on the similarity of some trusses a late C16th date is likely for parts of both wings. It is suggested that the north wing was the earliest construction, then being part of a T or L shaped house with an east-west cross wing. In the early C17th the two rooms of this latter cross wing were either rebuilt, with wall thicknesses of 70cm, or upgraded, both rooms contain framed ceilings. A kitchen extension, to the west with walls about 65cm thick, was added shortly afterwards creating a traditional three room and cross passage arrangement in the now more important front range. In the C18th the framed ceilinged rooms were again upgraded by cladding the beams with decorative moulding and creating windows of uniform dimensions on both floors. The term old auster appears in a Dean & Chapter of Wells document of 1786 indicating a late medieval holding with manorial rights. (photo, John Rickard)
36 Winscombe. Barton, Maxmills Farm. ST 402 576.
Four two-storey ranges in a rectangular arrangement surround a central court-yard, a single storey flat-roofed addition extends the south range. All elevations are painted, either over render or directly onto the local, random rubble stone masonry. The roofs are clay tile; generally pan-tile with double Romans on the south range. This range is supported on tie-beam trusses. The west roof range has a collar beam truss with principals joined by a cranked collar; all have a small chamfer and run-out stops and were meant to be seen, indicating attic accommodation. The east range has tie-beam trusses. A mill featured in the Domesday Book and this site was given its name in 1319. 80cm thick walls certainly indicate the medieval structure of an Open Hall house, in the western half of the south range. This house was updated in the early C17th with the creation of a west (kitchen) wing with new fireplace and oven/curing chamber and a Cross passage. A second freestone fireplace, with roll moulding and converging stops on the jambs, was inserted in the Parlour to back on to this passage. Beams, supporting the upper floor have slightly hollowed chamfers and geometric (shouldered) stops Later the house was further enlarged by the addition of a room in the north range and another on the east of the south range, probably used for farming purposes. The roof over the whole south range suggests a late C18th build. Up-grading of the Parlour (elegant pilasters and a curved head, fielded panel doors cupboard, panelling, fire-surround) may date from this period as may the panelled dado with moulded border in the room to the left of the cross-passage. The completion of the east wing closed the court-yard. Wall thicknesses and roof structure suggest a late C18th or early C19th date of build. It is possible that the linking curved corner was added at this time to make use of a warm area beside the stack in the former kitchen as seen in the old photograph. The corn mill was in use until the early C20th. (photo supplied by Maria Forbes)
37 Winscombe. Barton, Barton Road, Home Farm. ST 393 568.
This house is L shaped in plan with a range facing south and fronting the lane. A rear, northern projection is at right angles to the lane. Both are of two-storeys with a single storey, C20th lean-to between the ranges. They are constructed of painted local rubble stone and roofed with clay pan-tiles. The asymmetrical roof of the front range is vastly different from that of the north wing with its jointed cruck and wind brace construction. Obviously the northern projection formed all or part of a cruck roof and cob walled building which existed here in the early C16th. Wind-bracing suggests it was open to the roof certainly at first floor level. Beside the lane a higher status, two-unit-with cross-passage-range was built in the latter half of the C16th. This incorporated moulded framed ceilings and grand fireplaces; that in the Hall has chamfered stone jambs terminating in bar-and-roll stops, an ornately carved lintel with mantel shelf above, both formerly red painted. The stone fireback comprises two pillars above which are three triangular stones, the central one bearing a fleur-de-lys style motif and the initials RS (Richard Smith died in 1726). This range was up-graded early in the C19th; the eaves raised and new roof constructed, the kitchen fireplace was replaced and domestic cooking possibly relocated in a separate building, the Bake-house, with evidence of a curing chamber but not of a bread oven. At the same time the cob walls of the north wing could have been replaced and its use changed to dairy or other service activities. The property is believed to have housed the Reeve for the Dean and Chapter of Wells Estate. (photo, John Rickard)
38 Winscombe. Barton Road, Lavenders. ST 397 567.
The house is double-pile; both ranges are two storey with a one-and-a-half storey extension at the west end and a cat-slide roof over a further single storey addition. The main range is painted render over random rubble stone walls, the extension has painted masonry. The ranges have shallow-pitched slate roofs with cement tiles in the valley. The eaves are deep barge-boards with applied lozenges, simple finials and pendants adorn the gables. The house is not shown on the 1792 Dean & Chapter of Wells Map, an indenture of 1795 suggests the front range (walls ca 50cm thick and flagstone floors) was built as two rooms, Living room and Parlour, with three rooms above. The rear range evolved from a single storey outshut of kitchen and service rooms and was converted into two storeys during the up-grading of the mid C19th. The entrance hall was improved and further outhouses, stables and store rooms, were built. By 1884 the house was known as Barton Villa. Outhouses became accommodation during the C20th. (photo, John Rickard)
39 Winscombe. Barton, Laurel Farm. ST 394 568.
The plan is a two-storey, 3 room main range with two wings projecting to the north; the west wing C19th and the east wing ca 1939. Single storey infill structures exist between them. The walls have a slobbered white coating over red-coloured random rubble local stone; in the main range they are 57-60cm thick. The asymmetrical roof, previously thatched, is clad with double Roman clay tiles. The ridge is decorated with cocks-comb tiles. Chimney stacks rise from the coped gables and to the west of todays main entrance. T5 is the relic of the original, 53 pitch, roof. It has principals with a vertical apex joint clasping a diagonally set ridge piece; the apex joint has no visible fixing pegs holding the two principals together (This feature is noted in 3 other houses in the parish). The truss is closed with wattle and daub; both faces are white-washed. There is no evidence of smoke-blackening implying an original fireplace. A mid C16th date of build is suggested based upon the truss structure and wall thickness. The property was then one and a half storey, of two bays with an upper floor and a fireplace at the east gable. During the mid to late C18th it was extended westward by certainly one and possibly both front rooms; commonality of roof forms and floor levels suggest a contemporary date. The south eaves were raised and decorative tiles of two colours, laid in alternating rows of dark and light, were used on the new roof during the 1900s. (photo, John Rickard)
40 Winscombe. Barton, Whitethorn Cottage. ST 399 568.
The house comprises a two storey main range with a two storey extension at the rear. The walls, ca 49 cm thick, are of random rubble construction rendered and painted. The main range is set under an overhung slate roof with a gable stack at each end. The shallow pitched roof (32) is carried on a 40cm central wall, rising to the apex, and two king post trusses. The north elevation has six-over-six sash windows arranged symmetrically. A hipped slate roofed porch protects the front door. The 1792 Dean & Chapter of Wells Map and the Tithe Map show a single dwelling on site. An 1871 map shows a pair of cottages and documentation suggests that two cottages were built. The central wall to the apex and the plan suggest a pair of mirror cottages each comprising a single kitchen/living room with a rear scullery under a cat-slide roof. These were unified and up-graded ca 1930, the porch was attached and the back outshut raised to two stories, and credited to architect Sir George Oatley. Other additions and alterations occurred during the late C20th. (photo, John Rickard)
41 Winscombe. Barton, Hillside. ST 394 567.
The house is a one-and-a-half storey main range of two rooms and stair hall continuing into three single storey rooms in-line with a single story one room rear extension. It is built of rendered and painted random local rubble stone. The main range roof is clad with Roman clay tiles whilst the remainder is composed of coloured cement or pantiles. Land Tax and walls thicknesses suggest that the main range was built in the latter part of the 18th century as Kitchen/Living room, central Service room with stairs and a Parlour. In-line stables were added to the south in 1828(date stone). During the C19th the Service-room was replaced by a new stair-hall and entrance door. About 1900 a single room brick extension was built at the rear. Its roof construction and that of the whole house appear to be contemporary suggesting total re-roofing at that time.
42 Winscombe. Barton, Nut Tree Farmhouse. ST 397 567.
A survey by EDH Williams in 1981 states evidence for interpretation was scanty. He suggests the property may have been a long-house; we consider this very unlikely. The present plan is a two storey in-line house of three rooms and a hall with two modern two- storey extensions, one in-line to the west and the other a rear wing to the south-east. The walls are rendered and feature some mullioned windows with reserved chamfer mullions and drip moulds. The C17th roof, previously thatched, is clad with double roman tiles to the front and pan-tiles to the rear and is supported by collar trusses. Internally some beams have 14 cm chamfers and rounded geometric or cyma stops. Based on the wall thickness, reserved chamfered windows, beam chamfers and stops and two of the trusses we suggest that this substantial property probably dates to around 1600 when it comprised a Kitchen / Living room, a Dairy /Buttery, a Cross-passage, a Hall with inglenook fireplace and an Inner room. Late in the C17th there was a partial rebuild of the Hall and Inner Room and the roof was raised to full two storeys. A bread oven protruded from the west gable. The thatch had been replaced by the C20th and much modernisation has occurred since. (photo, Mike Hargreaves)
43 Winscombe. Barton, Rose Farm. ST 396 567.
The present plan is of two two-storey ranges set in an L shape with a single storey lean-to in the angle between them and another on the north gable. The walls are rendered and painted; those on the front elevation being 60 cm. thick against 50 cm. in the north range. Chimney stacks are located at the East and West gables. The clay tiled roof, pitch 45, is supported on a softwood tie-beam truss enclosing the remnant principals of an earlier roof, 53 pitch, indicating that the original build was one and a half storeys and thatched. The wall thickness suggests a late C17th construction comprising two rooms, each with a gable hearth and perhaps a central Service room. In the early C19th the thatch was removed and the eaves raised. The north wing was added in the mid C19th; reference to a separate staircase suggests it might not have been accessed from the main range because it was non-domestic or separately occupied. Extensive refurbishment occurred ca 1994. (photo, John Rickard)
44 Winscombe. Sandford, Greenhill Lane, Hill View. ST429 598.
This is a two storey, two room, central entry house with a two storey extension at the north gable and single storey extensions to the west and north. The 50cm thick walls are of rubble construction, rendered and painted. All roofs are clad in double roman clay tiles. The roof of the main build is of soft wood. An early C19th date of construction is suggested.
45 Winscombe. Sandford, Greenhill Road, Yew Tree Farm & Yew Tree Cottage. ST 422 595.
The original build is a two-storey Hall and unheated Inner Room, both with attic accommodation over, sited gable end on to the road. A one and half storey eastern wing extension lying parallel to the road was constructed over the centuries and divided into the two properties in the late C20th. All external walls are part rendered or painted over random rubble walls. All roofs are now clay tiled, the original building was thatched but is now pan- tiled, whilst the extension is clad in double roman tiles. The 70 75 cm wall thicknesses, the deep chamfered beams (13 cm) with step and run-out stops, the turret stairs and the cranked collar, tenoned and pegged into the trusses, visible in the attic suggest a late C16th build for the original house. Similarity of wall thickness and beam chamfers indicate that about 1600 a single-room-plus- chamber wing extension was built for food preparation removing all aspects of a kitchen out of the Hall. External straight joints, wall thickness of 60-65cm. and the collar truss roof structure indicate a further extension ca 1700 to provide a back kitchen plus chamber. Documentary evidence, probate inventories and maps, support this. A further straight joint, change in wall thickness to 50cm, lower eaves and ridge indicate a later cottage, work-shop or storage area, recently converted to accommodation and necessitating dormer windows to light the first floor. (photo, Mike Hargreaves)
46 Winscombe. Sandford, Batch House. ST 421 593.
The present property incorporates the remnants of walls, 55cm thick, of a probable mid C18th building which then comprised kitchen/living room, stairs hall and parlour.
47 Winscombe. Sandford, 20 Greenhill Road, Orchard Cottage. ST 425 596.
The property, surveyed by EHD Willliams in 1985, has a two room plan form with a narrower in-line wing consisting of room and cross-passage. The rendered and painted walls of the main house are ca. 62cm thick and those of the wing 55cm. The roof is thatched and that of an earlier build had a 50 pitch with a central truss, smoke-blackened on both sides; the principals linked by cranked collars; the purlins have chamfers with plain run-outs; evidence for wind-braces remains. This roof structure, the wall thickness and a timber framed partition in-filled with wattle and daub, containing a blocked shouldered doorway suggest a late C15th / early C16th house of two bays; an open to the roof Hall and an Inner-room, with jettied Solar-chamber over. Up-grading occurred in the late C16th; a fireplace, with lintel and chamfered mantle shelf, was inserted; the Hall was ceiled and the two storey in-line wing, comprising cross-passage and an unheated service-room, was built. In the early C19th the eaves were raised and a soft wood roof replaced the original; a brick-lined oven was inserted in the fireplace, visible externally under a low tiled roof. Substantial renovations occurred in the C20th. (photo, John Rickard)
48 Winscombe. Sandford, Greenhill Road. No 29 The Myrtles. ST 434 596.
The plan comprises a two storey symmetrical house with a one and a half storey northern extension and a lean-to at the rear. The central entry provides access to the hallway and an opposing stair turret. The house is part rendered and part painted over random conglomerate rubble walls, 65cm thick. The double-roman tiled roof has three brick stacks at the ridge. Evidence of light smoke-blackening occurs in the collar truss roof of the original build. In the extension roof the collars have been raised to provide more headroom. An early to mid C16th date of build is suggested with the property then being a two room (Hall and unheated Service-room) Open Hall house. Ca 1650 75, the upper floor was inserted; evidenced by beams with 13cm chamfers and step and run-out stops and the Hall fireplace with a large depressed four centre wooden bressumer supported on a large orthostatic stone at the western end. The turret stairs, now rising clockwise but counter clockwise previously, may date from this period although stairs appear to have risen in the more traditional location, beside the fireplace. The property was then one and a half storeys with eye-brow windows lighting the upper floor. The house was up-graded (gentrified) in the first half of the C18th by raising the walls, superimposing a new roof and refenestrating the front elevation The northern extension was added to provide a new kitchen with oven and stairs alongside giving access to servants quarters/storage. The original Service-room then became the Parlour. Mid C19th the lean-to was added as scullery and wash-house. Later additions occurred during the C20th. (photo, Mike Hargreaves)
49 Winscombe. Sidcot, Oakridge Lane , Coombe House. ST 429 573.
This property has a double-pile north-south plan form with over hanging eaves and gables to both roofs. It is two-storey with a single storey flat roofed extension abutting the south gable wall. The walls are rendered and painted under a plain clay-tiled roof enhanced by pierced ridge tiles; the external walls and the internal, central, wall between the two buildings are 49-54 cm thick. Three dormer windows with decorative tile hangings are symmetrically set above a Regency-styled canopied porch at the main entrance. Six-over-six sash windows sit under applied voussoir heads. The roof is carried on king post trusses and the eaves and gables have been raised. Map evidence suggests that an L shaped property shown on the 1839 Tithe Map is not this building. We suggest that it originated ca 1862 and then comprised Dining room, Sitting room, Drawing room / Library, entrance hall and two Service / Kitchen rooms. A two roomed extension at the North gable is probably an early C20th up-grade (1919 designed by George Oatley); this is indicated by the use of quarry tiles for skirting and the Triplex cooking hearth. Subsequent conversion for use as a school boarding house, mean that some original features may have been lost. (photo, John Rickard)
50 Winscombe. Sidcot, Oakridge Lane, Rose Cottage (Sidcot School). ST 428 574.
The cottage is two storey and rendered under a low pitched, large eaved slate roof. Originally it comprised three rooms divided by a central stair hall. The wall thickness (50-55cm.), the roof pitch, the sash windows all indicate a mid C19th construction. School records confirm a build date of 1842, replacing an earlier building. (photo, Mike Hargreaves)
51 Winscombe. Sidcot, Oakridge Lane, 1 & 2 Combe Cottages. ST 429 573.
The cottages comprise a one-and-half storey range abutting a two storey range to the east. The 50cm thick walls are built of rendered local rubble stone under a double Roman clay tiled roof. The late C18th core of the properties comprised a kitchen / living room, a central service room and a parlour. The original roof of four elm collar trusses remains. A single room western extension was probably contemporary, with the eastern, two storey property built in the mid C19th. Subsequent single storey additions on the northern side were raised to two storey at a later date. (photo, John Rickard)
52 Winscombe. Sidcot, Harbury Batch. ST 427 574.
The site is the probable location of a former cottage used from 1690 as a Quaker Meeting House; the wall abutting Elm Cottage may be a relic of that earlier build. A purpose built, square Meeting House was constructed in 1718. The walls are 55cm thick and rendered or painted under a distinctively shaped double Roman clay tiled roof. The complex elm roof is hipped on all four sides rising to a flat central panel supported by a timber frame and four posts. Two principal tie-beams lie east to west with secondary trusses lying north to south. A collar, half dovetailed into the principals, holds the outer section of each secondary truss in place. It was converted to domestic accommodation ca 1820 with extensions on the east side, the insertion of central newel stairs and extra windows, all now in sash form. (photo, John Rickard)
53 Winscombe. Sidcot, Kidborough Cottage. ST 428 573.
This property comprises a two storey block joined to an adjacent house on the north and east sides. A single storey wing projects to the west with a lean-to outbuilding to the north. The walls, random rubble unclad masonry some 48 53cm thick, sit under a double Roman clay tiled roof. The original roof had a 45 pitch supported on a pair of king-post trusses. The present roof is 30cm higher. A suggested build of the last quarter of the C18th is based on map evidence (1884 OS), wall thickness and roof structure. The single storey wing dates from the mid C19th when the lay-out suggests it was out-houses. (photo, John Rickard)