Description

GOSFORD AND WATER EATON

1712/5/36 A 34
25-SEP-86 PEAR TREE HILL
(East side)
Frieze Farmhouse

II

Also Known As: FRIES FARM, PEAR TREE HILL
Farmhouse with probably late C17 core, successively expanded in the C18 and earlier C19. Irregular L-plan.

MATERIALS: Coursed limestone rubble with squared dressings. Concrete tile roof. Tile-hung early C19 timber-framed bay to left with slate roof.

EXTERIOR: Of two storeys. Original two-unit building with gable chimney (top rebuilt in brick) to left; one- and three-light windows to first floor with flat stone arches. Door, with single-light widows to either side, to centre; earlier blocked door to right. Right gable has two- and three-light windows to first floor, and three-light to ground floor. Several of the windows are leaded and of the C18. Right-hand wing, probably late C18, has three-light segmental-arched casements facing left and two-light facing right, and a gable-end brick chimney. Tile-hung early-mid C19 bay to left has 12-pane sashes with architraves and a fairly shallow hipped slate roof. The single-storey, catslide -roofed range to the rear is of stone and at least two phases, both later than the original building but earlier than the tile-hung range.

INTERIOR: The original chimney retains its internal coarse plaster lining, perhaps original. Internal doors, skirting boards and fittings largely C18 and C19. Right-hand wing has C19 wall cupboards to either side of gable fireplace. Good quality early C20 free-standing oak staircase and landing introduced to the farmhouse from another building. Cellar (not seen) reported under right end of original building.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: Frieze Farmhouse is a typical example of a modest Oxfordshire vernacular building of the late C17, which between the C18 and C19 was successively enlarged until it became what might be characterised as a typical farmhouse. It has seen little if any later alteration, and retains a good range of original fixtures and fittings.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26297894

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

• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)