Description

BRATTON CLOVELLY
SX 49 SE

7/12 Swaddledown
-

- II

Farmhouse. Probably an early C17 remodelling of a medieval house which may have
been a longhouse. Victorian addition. Rendered stone rubble and cob walls. Slate
roof which is hipped to right end of old house and gabled to its left end; hipped to
C19 block. Old house has granite ashlar chimney with tapering cap at left gable end
and rubble and granite ashlar axial stack.
The old house is now at the rear of the building. It is likely to be a substantial
remodelling of a medieval house from the evidence of some reused smoke-blackened
timbers in the roof. Its plan as it survives is of a through-passage with a very
small unheated lower room to its right, a hall with fireplace backing onto the
passage and a larger inner room heated by a gable end stack. The original form of
the lower end is not entirely clear as it appears to have been truncated and the
pronounced downhill slope is suggestive of a longhouse. This would mean that either
the shippon was demolished in the remodelling and a small service room made in its
place or alternatively the service room existed inbetween the passage and shippon as
at the nearby Chimsworthy (q.v.). The existence of a thick wall between hall and
inner room, which extends at least up to eaves height and possibly originally to the
apex, is a feature of early houses in this area. In this house it is not possible
to say whether or not it marked the end of the house at the hall which was then
extended but if this is so it may pre-date the C17 remodelling. In Victorian times
a new L-shaped front block was added in the hall and inner room probably relegating
the old house to secondary uses. A later C19 dairy was added in a lean-to against
the lower right end.
2 storeys. Asymmetrical 4-window front to old house. On the 1st floor is a C19 3-
light small-paned casement to the left with 2 early C20 3-light casements to its
right. To the far right on the 1st floor is a late C19/early C20 4-pane sash. The
ground floor has a 3-light C19 casement to the left and a similar late C20 casement
at the centre. To the right of centre is a late C19/early C20 lean-to porch with
C20 plank door behind which leads to the passage. Small single light early C20
casement to its right. Late C19 outshut added against right-hand end wall of house.
Behind the old house but not forming the main front is the C19 block which is L-
shaped with a wing projecting to the left.
Interior: The roof structure is probably C18 with straight principal rafters which
have lapped and pegged collars and purlins running along the backs of the
principals. Some timbers including a purlin are smoke-blackened and have been
reused from a medieval roof.
The passage has a chamfered cross beam with straight cut stops; at its lower end is
the head beam for a plank and muntin screen, chamfered with mason's mitres, the
screen itself was recently removed. The lower room has a chamfered cross beam
adjoining the screen head-beam with joists which are chamfered and stopped with
diagonal stops. The hall has a granite framed fireplace with a straight roll-
moulded lintel. The inner room has a chamfered granite-framed fireplace. It has a
good quality beamed ceiling of a heavy chamfered cross beam with step stops and
similarly decorated joists.
Above the inner room the 2 chambers are divided by a plank and muntin screen which
has chamfered muntins and head-beam with mason's mitres, the bottom appears to have
rotted away and been repaired. The chamber at the higher end, into which the screen
faces, has a granite-framed fireplace, chamfered with step stops to the jambs. In
the gable wall adjoining it is a contemporary small-arched wooden doorway rebated
for a door which leads only to a small recess but may originally have been for a
garderobe.
This house retains a number of good quality early features and has an interesting
plan and development which is open to several interpretations.

Listing NGR: SX4599492897

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26399561

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

• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability