Description

SS 40 NE
7/88

SHEEPWASH
Upcott Barton

21.2.77

GV
II
Derelict farmhouse. Late medieval or C16 probably altered in C17 with late C17 addition. Mainly rubble walls to existing elevations with some cob to rear right-hand end. Gable-ended slate roof. Three brick stacks - one axial,one at right gable-end and one rear lateral.

Plan:original plan not entirely clear due to the left end of the house now being ruinous and the fact that the building has obviously had a complex structural history. The basic plan was T-shaped and it is the stroke of the T at the left end, forming a cross wing which is ruinous with its walls virtually completely collapsed. However,one medieval roof truss survives over this end, of a high quality and obviously meant to be seen although its exposure to the elements precludes the survival of any evidence of smoke-blackening. Therefore this cross wing could either have been the hall or a great chamber. Nor does the main range of the house assist much in deducing its plan form since it has been considerably rebuilt and remodelled at the right end in the late C17. Between these two end ranges is a large room heated by a rear lateral stack and with a passage to its left.Its roof structure is C19 and so gives no clue to its original form. Taking the house as a whole, however,the most likely interpretation is that the ruinous range was a great chamber over the lower end with the hall to its right and a passage between them, and the late C17 block is a rebuilding of the inner room - with staircase. This end was probably further altered in the C19.

Exterior: two storeys apart from ruinous wing at left end. The exterior was probably remodelled in the C19 and its fenestration dates mainly from this time apart from the projecting rear face of the right-hand end which has three probably late C17 wooden mullioned and transomed windows - one on the first floor to left and two below.

Interior: the ruinous range preserves on arch-braced roof truss with ovolo and roll-moulded soffit which has been cut off above the collar to accommodate the C19 roof over the central range which runs at right angles to it. On the ground floor of this range is a small fireplace which has a chamfered wooden lintel with straight cut stops. One chamfered cross-beam survives. The central room has a good C17 lateral fireplace with hollow chamfered granite lintel and jamb to right. Probably C19 staircase to right of fireplace but it may be in the position of an earlier one. The right-hand range has a first floor late C17 bolection moulded chimneypiece. The ground floor fireplace has a curved back with slates in herringbone pattern, moulded granite jambs and a probably replacement plain wooden lintel. Over this range is a hardwood roof structure with lapped and pegged collars which probably also dates from the late C17 rebuilding.

Listing NGR: SS4770007445

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26398520

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

• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)