Description

WESTLEIGH SOUTHCOTT
SS 42 NE
3/109 Southcott Barton
25.2.65
II*
Barton, now residential home. c.1600. Rendered stone rubble and cob. Slate roofs
with gable ends. Axial stone rubble stack with tapered cap. Rear lateral hall
stack with off-sets and tapered cap. Stack at right gable end of main range with
tapered cap, off-sets and projecting bread oven.
Basically E-shaped on plan, the left-hand parlour wing extending also to rear
housing principal staircase. Centre range with hall to left of through passage
with 2-storey porch, service end to right, the front wing formerly used as apple
loft above dairy, the latter now a kitchen with bedrooms over.
2 storeys with garret to parlour wing. 6-window range including wings and porch.
20-paned sash on each floor to gable end of left-hand wing. Inner faces has 20-
paned sash over canted bay with French windows and margin glazing bars, surmounted
by gabled dovecote. Main range has two 20-paned sashes over 2 tripartite sashes,
12 panes to centre with 8-paned sidelight sashes to left of porch and a 2-light
casement, 6 panes per light on each floor to right. Porch has 20-paned sash over
straight-headed doorway with dressed stone jambs. Small windows to each side of
porch with deep splayed reveals, the windows containing stained glass inserted in
C20 by the Fulford family depicting St Ambrose to left over initials AFC and 2
badges to right over date 1927 - 1971. Impressively massive C17 inner porch
doorway, straight-headed with double ovolo moulded surround and ornate stops to the
base of the jambs consisting of triple flutes above bar over bulbuos motif
terminating in a scroll to the base. Massive original framed and ledged door with
moulded cover strips forming 20 panels, old lock and latches. Gable end of service
wing to right has 12-paned sashes on each floor.
3 small leantos to rear and a single storey gable ended dairy extension enclosing
hall stack, the leanto to rear of through-passage has ovolo-with-hollow moulded
surround to reset straight-headed doorway with 4 flutes above bar and keel-stopped
durns. Original plank doors with cover strips forming 12 panels, the upper 3
panels glazed.
Interior: very fine C17 features survive to the majority of rooms. Impressive
plank and muntin screen between hall and through-passage, 10 planks wide, the
muntins ovolo-moulded with bulbous stops to the base on each side. Each plank is
carved with lozenge and scallop pattern at the top. Doorway has been reset from
the centre towards the left side of the screen. Ovolo-moulded door surround with
traingular prism stops to reset doorway to the returned wall of the leanto added to
rest of the through-passage. Reused lintel to hall fireplace with dressed stone
jambs. Fragment of plasterwork frieze decorated with running scrolled stems with
fruit and foliage on front wall of hall. Ovolo-moulded door surround with
scratched bar, bulb and scroll-stops to front parlour wing which has fireplace with
dressed stone jambs, slates set on end to each side of the hearth and ovolo-moulded
lintel with run out stops. Thin moulded plasterwork cornice to inner rom, now
divided into bedrooms. C17 dog-leg staircase with original treads, moulded
handrail and turned balusters and newels, the latter with acorn finials.
Geometrical plasterwork ceiling to stair hall, with 4 heart-shapes around central
pendant, with inner lozenges tipped with angle sprays to the intersections at the
head of each heart-shape. All the doorways to the upstairs rooms have original
doors with cover strips and door surrounds all differently moulded, that to small
chamber to right at head of stairs has bar-ogee-scroll stop identical to Southcott
House front doorway (q.v.). This chamber has plaster ceiling with 3 small foliated
roundels (the 4th not surviving) around central slightly larger roundel. C17
staircase to garret with splat baluster and moulded handrail. The 2 principal
chambers over the hall both have spectacular ornamental coved plasterwork ceilings
enriched with double ribbed geometrical designs around central pendants. The
smaller chamber has 2 large sprays at each end, frieze and fireplace overmantel
with strapwork cartouche and anthropormorphic sun-head to the centre. Larger
chamber has geometrical designs to each end with heads above and below and inside
each lozenge to either side. Fireplace overmantel with strapwork cartouche and
central roundel depicting mythical 2-headed bird and lions head. Ovolo-moulded
lintel with scratched star shape and scroll stops. Small room over porch also has
coved plasterwork ceiling decorated with central roundel encircled by 3 paterae,
the 4th not surviving. Part of the plasterwork frieze to one of the chambers over
the lower end with running scrolled foliage and fruit design. Ovolo-moulded
fireplace lintel with scroll stops to the other chamber. Lower end kitchen
fireplace with chamfered lintel with run-out stops has niche to right, probably
originally a smoking chamber. C17 ledged door with cover strips to rear outshut.
No access to roofspace over principal chambers, but 2 trusses over lower end and 3
over rear parlour wing respectively have typical C17 lap-jointed collars and
threaded purlins and ridge purlin.
Despite the loss of plasterwork ceilings to the hall and parlour wing, this is an
excellently preserved example of an early C17 barton with an outstanding array of
period detail surviving.

Listing NGR: SS4683427575

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17532070

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.

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