Description

SU 19 NE KEMPSFORD WHELFORD

8/115 Townsend Farmhouse

II

Townsend Farmhouse. Late C18.

MATERIALS: Constructed of oolitic limestone rubble with ashlar quoins. It has a diminishing stone slate roof and a coursed rubble stone gable end and axial stack.

PLAN: A single depth, linear, through-passage plan. The original farmhouse had a symmetrical elevation and the extension to the north-west is a mid-C19 addition. To the rear elevation is a further two storey, gabled, late C20 extension.

EXTERIOR: The two storey farmhouse has a pitched roof with the ridge line between the axial and gable end stack slightly higher. The 12-pane sashes are early-C21 double glazed replacements and include four sash windows at first floor and the three sash windows at ground floor. To the right of centre is a C20 projecting gabled stone porch and C20 tumbler door. To the rear elevation is a late-C20 two storey gabled extension.

INTERIOR: The through-passage plan remains legible and there is evidence of the remains of the top beam of the plank and muntin screen. The house retains some of its C18 fixtures and fittings including the wide C18 doorway and door to the through-passage; the inglenook fireplace with bressumer; and chamfered ceiling beams. The roof structure largely survives and retains its wall plate, principal rafters and trenched purlins. A collar-rafter truss survives to the SE gable. There is a slight recess to the left of the fireplace in the dining room which may have been the position of an original staircase. There have however, been some alterations to the house including the creation of openings at ground and first floor to provide access to the two storey extension, and the insertion of a C20 staircase.

HISTORY: Townsend Farmhouse is included on the Kempsford Inclosure Map of 1801 confirming its pre-1840 date. The farmhouse appears from this map to have a single depth linear plan with an outshut housing the servants' accommodation. It was likely to have been originally built as a symmetrical farmhouse with gable end stacks towards the end of the C18, when many farmhouses were rebuilt following the enclosure of open downland. The Inclosure map also includes the associated agricultural buildings with a T-shaped plan and forming a group with the farmhouse. These farm buildings (the former stable and barn) have since been substantially altered. The first edition OS map of 1876 depicts the kitchen extension to the north-west which is probably a mid-C19 addition.

SOURCES: Kempsford Inclosure Map and Award, 1801-2 (Q/RI86-87), Gloucestershire Archives

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: Townsend Farmhouse, a late-C18 house, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as an example of a late-C18 farmhouse built following the enclosure of local downland
* Architectural interest: for its vernacular architectural treatment, employing local materials and construction techniques
* Planning: for the legibility of its original through-passage plan
* Intactness: for the good level of survival of C18 fabric

Listing NGR: SU1711398942

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26381830

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

• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)