Description

KENN SX 88 NE

1/137 Hill Farmhouse including adjoining - cider house

GV II

Farmhouse. Late medieval origins, remodelled and probably extended in the circa early C17. C18 cider house wing projecting at front left. Whitewashed rendered cob and stone rubble ; thatched roof, gabled at left end, hipped at right end of main block, half-hipped at front of wing ; projecting front lateral stack with a bread oven, rear left projecting lateral stack, axial stack to right of centre with a truncated shaft. Plan: The present plan is single depth : a 3 room and cross passage arrangement at the left end with a one or 2 room plan addition at the right end and a cider house wing projecting to the front at the left end. The 3 room and cross passage arrangement has a lower end heated by the rear lateral stack, the large hall heated by the front lateral stack, the inner room heated (shaft of stack truncated). The core of the house is late medieval, 2 very wide bays open to the roof timbers, possibly with a 2-storey block at the right end. The medieval house probably ended one room from the left where there is a thick crosswall. The house was pobably floored with the stacks inserted in the early C17 and extended at the left end by one room with a cross passage introduced at the left end of the medieval house. The right end of the house (not inspected at time of survey) is slightly set back and projects to the rear and is used as a separate dwelling. Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 4 window front with a C20 glazed porch to the cross passge to the left. 1-, 2- and 3-light C19 or C20 timber casements with glazing bars, second door on front at right. The rear elevation is buttressed and has timber casement windows. The inner elevation of the cider house wing has one first floor window, and a door and 3 small windows on the ground floor with a larger casement at the extreme right. Interior: Well-preserved interior. The cross passage has a plank and muntin screen on the hall side with a small lobby adjoining it, adjacent to the hall, containing the stair. The large hall has a fine open fireplace with a massive chamfered red sandstone lintel and jambs and a blocked arch to the bread oven. 2 widely-spaced chamfered stopped cross beams with exposed joists; plank and muntin screen at the higher end, plastered-over on the hall side. The inner room has an open fireplace with red sandstone jambs and a chamfered timber lintel. The ceiling of the lower end room is higher than the rest of the house, the lintel of the fireplace is plastered- over and the room is paved with red tiles. A probably C15 2-light timber window with trefoil-headed lights, lights the stair. It is blocked externally and the ceiling of the ground floor would cut across it - it may be one of the medieval hall windows in situ, although is suprisingly close to the end wall of the medieval house. Roof: 2 widely-spaced bays of side-pegged jointed cruck construction, beautifully - carpentered with peaked collars mortised into the principals which are mortised at the apex with a diagonally-set threaded ridge. The threaded purlins are chamfered. The roof is complete with blackened thatch, rafters and battens. A closed truss above the inner room/hall partition is not sooted on the hall side, and although the roof construction beyond the partition was not seen in detail at time of survey the roof timbers appear not to be sooted. The timbers over the lower end room are also not sooted, the left gable end wall is stud construction in the gable. The cider house wing has an apple loft and pegged A frame trusses, probably C18. A handsome unspoiled traditional house with a fine medieval roof and good quality interior detail. Group value with the threshing barn to the north east.

Listing NGR: SX8969886184

External Links

• Wikidata Q26389948

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Recommended Books

• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)