Description

MERTON
SS 51 SW
11/137 Eastbear Farmhouse
-
II

Farmhouse. Circa late C16, possibly with earlier origins, with mid C17 addition and
C20 alterations. Rendered cob and rubble walls. Gable ended asbestos slate roof.
Large projecting rendered rubble stack to gable of front wing, brick axial stack to
other range.
Plan: L-shaped plan. The north-west range is the older and was originally of 3 room
and through passage plan with lower end to the left, downhill end, and axial hall
stack backing onto passage. At the higher end of the hall is a projection which
appears to have been a window bay. Unheated inner room. The form of this range was
altered considerably in the early C20 when its lower end was demolished up to and
including the hall stack, a new axial stack was then inserted at the higher end of
the hall and its rear wall built over. A straight run staircase was put in at the
front of the inner room. The wing projecting from the inner room was added in the
circa mid C17 either as a kitchen or parlour. The main entrance is now into this
wing in the angle, and an axial passage leads from it to the staircase and rooms in
the other range. The wing itself has been subdivided into 2 rooms and had an outshut
added at the rear. Evidence for the original extent of the house survives in late
C19 or early C20, photographs in the possession of the owners.
Exterior: 2 storeys. L-shaped asymmetrical 3 window front of C20 2-light casements;
wing projecting from right-hand end has 2 windows on first floor and one below. The
left-hand range has a window on the ground floor to left and to its right is a 2
storey projection containing a 2-light casement on the first floor and the remains of
a long stone hoodmould below although the mullion window which was below it has been
blocked or removed. Built in the angle of the 2 wings, against the projection, is a
small C20 porch with plank door behind.
Interior: The hall has a complex arrangement of ceiling beams- 3 axial and one
transverse. The front axial beam does not extend the full length of the room but up
to the transverse beam which itself does not extend the full width of the room but up
to the next axial beam. Possibly this arrangement connected in some way with the
hall stack or some other feature which has also been removed. All the beams are
chamfered with straight-cut stops apart from the far end beam which has a pyramid
stop. Ovolo-moulded wooden doorframe leading from hall to inner room. Front wing
has ovolo-moulded cross beams. Roof trusses have all been renewed in C20.

Listing NGR: SS5139312876

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26398986

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

• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)