Description

DITTISHAM
SX85SW
10/252 Bruckton Farmhouse

II

House formerly a farmhouse. Circa late C15 or early C16, remodelled partly
rebuilt and extended in circa early to mid C17 and with early C18 and early
C19 alterations; heavily restored in late C20.
Stone rubble, rendered and painted. Rag slate roof with gabled ends, the
lower left hand end has a lower level roof. Stone rubble stacks, and
axial stack to right of centre and a projecting gable end stack at the left
end.
Plan: All that survives of the late Medieval house is the lower left hand
end which was open to the roof originally. In the first half of the C17 a
floor was inserted and the higher right hand end of the house including the
passage was rebuilt and extended on the same north/south axis but forward
of the original front wall and a wing was added behind the hall. The
existing plan is largely the rebuilt of this early C17 remodelling. it
consists of 4 rooms and a cross-passage in the main range, the lower left
hand end became a parlour heated from a gable end stack the smaller former
hall to the right of the passage was another parlour with a fireplace at
its higher right hand end and beyond that to the right a large unheated
service room with a small room partitioned off at the extreme right hand
end. the kitchen was in the wing behind the former hall and has a gable
end fireplace and the staircase was in a rounded turret in the angle with
the rear wing behind the cross-passage. There must have been some early to
mid C18 internal refurbishment judging by the C18 2-panel doors and again
in circa early to mid C19 when a lofted outbuilding was built in the angle
with the rear wing behind the higher end. In the late C20 the house was
heavily restored and altered internally, and the partitions on either side
of the cross-passage were removed.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 2:3 window east front, the lower left
hand. 2 windows set back. All late C20 plastic casements in old openings
with timber lintels and slate sills. Doorway to left of centre in
projecting right hand range has a good early C17 timber doorframe with cyma
and ovolo moulding and ball-shaped stops; the doorframe has true mitres and
a C17 studded plank door with scratch moulding and decorated wrought-iron
hinges; chamfered timber lintel. The lower left hand gable end has a
projecting stack and a later large raking buttress.
The rear elevation has gable-ended wing to the left of centre with a round
stair turret in the lower right hand angle. All the windows are C20
plastic casements. On the left hand side of the wing in the angle with
the main range an attached circa early to mid C19 outbuilding; stone rubble
with a slate hipped roof, external stone steps on the outer left hand side
to the loft, and C20 timber casements.
Interior: The ceilings in the central room (former hall) and lower left
end room have been rebuilt and the 2 rooms have been made into one large
room by the removal of the cross passage partitions. There is a C20 newel
staircase at the back of the former passage in the circa early C17 stair
turret. The fireplace at the lower left end has a rounded back, its lintel
replaced. The fireplace at the higher end of the former hall has a timber
lintel with cyma and fillet moulding and bar stops, its jambs have been
rebuilt. On the ground floor there are some early C19 panelled doors
including cupboard doors and an early C18 panelled door in the right hand
end room. On the first floor there are some early C18 fielded 2-panel
doors and C17 hanging cupboards beside the axial stack with scratch-moulded
plank doors and pegs inside.
Roof: All that survives of the medieval roof is one smoke-blackened truss
over threaded purlins and a C17 replacement collar with notched lap joints.
The rest of the roof over the lower left end has been replaced in C19 or
C20. The roof over the former hall has remains of principals with notched
lap jointed collars replaced by straight principals crossed at the apex and
with trenched purlins and lapped collars. The roof over the higher right
hand end beyond the stack was not inspected but the feet of the principals
are straight. Over the rear wing the roof has 3 trusses with notched lap-
jointed collars to straight principals with threaded purlins, some of the
collars and purlins have been replaced.

Listing NGR: SX8457452874

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26402064

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

• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]