Description

WEST ANSTEY BADLAKE LANE
SS 82 NE
2/49 Badlake Farmhouse
-
20.2.87
- II*

Farmhouse. Probably early to mid C15, remodelled probably in mid C16, inner room
extended probably in late C18, lower end widened in C19. Painted rendered stone
rubble and cob. Concrete tile roof with gable ends. Stack at left gable end, tall
stone rubble lateral rear stack to inner room, tall front lateral hall stack
unusually with a round shaft of West Somerset type and rendered stack at right gable
end.
Plan: 3-room and cross-passage plan, lower end to right, with stair turret to rear
of hall/inner room and additional staircase in cross-passage.
Development: remarkably interesting interior indicates multiphase development. The
hall was originally open to the roof, which has fine arch-braced and wind-braced
jointed cruck trusses; those to each end of the hall are closed. The inner room
may well have been ceiled from the outset, as the roof is clean at this end without
windbracing. The hall and lower end, to judge by the ceiling beams, were probably
ceiled at the same time, possibly in the first half of C16. The inner room appears
to have been internally upgraded in the late C17, and then in the late C18 were
extended to the left and refenestrated , a direct entry also being made but this has
now been blocked and a window inserted. In the C19 the lower end appears to have
been remodelled, an axial partition being inserted to create a rear dairy and front
kitchen, part of the front wall also being built out in line with the 2-storey
porch. The date of the porch is uncertain; it is clearly an addition possibly of
the late C16 or early C17 but incorporating an earlier reset window.
Exterior: 2 storeys. 6-windbw range. Inner room end has two 12-paned sashes on
each floor and between them a sash inserted in the blocked doorway. Otherwise C20
fenestration. 2-storey porch incorporating kitchen bay has hipped roof and 2-
window range. Inside the porch is a single light trefoil headed window, possibly
reset, on the right-hand side, a fine virtually semi-circular headed inner doorway,
much weathered, with hollow flanking roll moulded surround and old plank door, and
the ceiling has a central chamfered and stepped stopped beam with close-set square
joists. To the rear of the hall chamber is a C17 2-light timber ovolo mullion
window.
Interior: fine screen between hall and cross-passage has wide muntins and plaster
rather than plank filling, and incorporates a good near semi-circular headed doorway
with old plank door. The screen is probably contemporary with he insertion of the
nail ceiling, as the carved post supporting the hall ceiling beam is shaped at the
side to receive the curved hall door lintel. The massive hollow chamfered-axial
hall ceiling beam, unstopped at the passage end, is in fact supported at each end on
massive jowled posts; a third post at the passage end stands beside the hall
fireplace and possibly originally it may have supported a second beam along the
front wall. The massive nature of the hall ceiling beam, the square closely set
ceiling joists, and use of posts suggests an early date for the ceiling over of the
hall. Screen at upper end of hall has heavy muntins and wide sawn planks, but
appears to have been partly reconstructed. Headbeam has wide hollow chamfer with a
thin central roll moulding. Unchamfered high timber lintel to hall fireplace which
has squint in upper end jamb. Inner room has axial ceiling beam with step stops at
one end and one draw stop at the other, with the cross ceiling beam indicating the
original extent of the inner room. No fireplace survives and there is said to be a
concealed stone newel stair adjoining the present C19 dog-leg staircase in the large
rear stair turret. The C18 extension to the inner room has a C18 chimneypiece with
swags of husks, urns and cartouches as decorations. On the inner room side of the
nall screen is late C17 panelling divided centrally by a wide fluted and reeded
pilaster. The rear wall of the hall has similar dado panelling but with ornamental
carved brattishing. Massive cambered and hollow chamfered axial ceiling beam to
lower end wnich is divided into a rear dairy and front kitchen. The kitchen
fireplace is late C19, contemporary with the rebuilding of the front and gable end
wall at this end. C19 joinery principally intact to upper storey.
Roof: medieval roof structure entirely intact, with 6 jointed cruck trusses, and
further two C18 trusses over the inner room extension. The structure over the hall
end passage is particularly fine; over the centre of the hall is an open truss with
a high cranked collar and chamfered arch-braces with the chamfers carried down the
fronts of the blades. The chamfered purlins are threaded and ridge purlin
diagonally set. The 3 bays of the hall and passage have 2 tiers of lightly
chamfered curved wind-braces. There are no wind-braces over the original inner
room; the truss between the hall and inner room is closed with large timber panels
with plaster infill and the absence of smoke-blackening to the inner room suggests
that the inner room end may have been floored from the outset, the chamber being
slightly jettied over the upper end of the hall. The truss over the lower side of
tne passage was originally closed, but this partition has been removed. Probably
originally a low screen partition separated the passage from the hall, but when the
hall was ceiled a full height partition was inserted above the screen. The roof
over the lower end is not smoke-blackened, and the truss nearest the passage has an
unusual strengthening piece supporting the ridge. The end truss, and the central
truss over the inner room have no collars.
Badlake is an exceptionally interesting example of a substantial C15 farmhouse with
subsequent multiphase development incorporating high quality interior details from
each of the later phases. N W Alcock and C Hulland. Devonshire Farm Houses. Part
IV. T.D.A, 104 (1972) p.40 - 46.

Listing NGR: SS8571927482

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17531986

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

• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)