History

The building which is now Court Farm has late-medieval (?late C15) monastic origins and was possibly part of the Prior's lodgings. Following the Dissolution it passed into secular use and was remodelled in earlier C19 (see engraving by John Varley) perhaps by the poet and essayist Walter Savage Landor who purchased Llanthony in 1809 for £20,000. However his restoration plans are reported to have been short-lived as he ran out of money.

Llanthony was a priory of Augustinian Canons that was founded c1108-1118 but after 1136 there was a gradual move to the new settlement of Llanthony Secunda at Gloucester. The priory church is late C12. The English cell flourished so much that in 1481 the original Llanthony was reduced to that of a priory cell of Llanthony Secunda, reversing the previous relationship between the two priories. It therefore seems an unlikely time to be building a new Prior's lodging but the evidence of the building suggests that the priory's fortunes were not all lost, although its value at Dissolution in 1536 was only £100.

The main block of Court Farm appears to have been remodelled in the early C18 when it faced east and again in the early C19 when it was reversed to give it the present appearance.

Exterior

L-plan; 2-storeys and attic. The coursed rubble elevations incorporate a substantial amount of medieval masonry and have stone-tile roofs with stone chimney stacks. 3-window main front to west, with plinth, has horned 16-pane sash windows. The masonry reveals confusing changes to the window openings, eg the former full-width stringcourse suggests that the sills have been raised and there have been apron-like panels between ground and 1st floor windows. Central 4-panel door with overlight; a C16 door is retained at the angle to left, with voussoirs. 1-window elevation at right angles, the windows of which have more dressed stone detail and incorporate one earlier jamb. The gable end to west has central chimney breast flanked to right by door with outside steps; the chamfered stone window surrounds relate to what was probably the late-medieval hall of the Prior's lodging, now appearing at a different level because of the lowering of the ceiling internally. To the 3-window rear of this cross-range (facing north) is an arcaded ground floor and jambs of blocked, perhaps early C19, openings; its east gable end has one diamond-mullioned window. 2-window downhill gable end to south with C20 windows, and 3 gabled dormers together with added lean-to on east side facing small courtyard, entered under a segmental headed arch. This retains 2-bay groin-vaulted undercroft in line with the cross range and clearly a surviving part of the medieval west range of the cloister; this formerly continued south - at least one respond survives.

Interior

The character of the ground floor is that of the late-georgian remodelling with 6-panel doors and openwell staircase with reeded uprights. An older, probably late C17, 2-light window is retained within the airing cupboard at the back of the stairwell and has ogee-moulded mullion and transom; another early window remains near the attic landing. The principal interest of this building is found within the cross-range where there is the significant evidence for the former existence of a grand late-medieval ceiling with a level of enrichment to indicate an important priory building, probably part of the Prior's lodging. The wall-plate and much of the framework of the ceiling are complete with the principal timbers (wall-plate and cross-beams) ornamented with hollow-chamfer and roll mouldings. A later partition means that this late-medieval hall at first appears to be divided into 3-bays but it may originally have run the full length of this range (one further bay) as similar ceiling mouldings are found immediately east of the partition. In addition below this, tenoned into a ceiling beam, are muntins that could be the top of a dais partition. The roof in this range is of 3-bays with pegged collared trusses and 3-tiers of feather-stopped purlins. Inside the C19 lean-to at the rear of the house can be seen the former rear elevation with timber, cross-frame windows with large dripstones. Also here is a C13 masonry window jamb, possibly in situ. The interior was not inspected at resurvey (April 1997).

Reasons for Listing

Graded II* for its important medieval origins associated with Llanthony Priory.
Group value with Llanthony Priory, the Abbey Hotel and St David's Church.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Court Farmhouse at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17743348

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

• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)