Description

ST 02 SW
1/198

HOCKWORTHY
Staple Court Farmhouse

II

Farmhouse. Early or mid C16 with major later C16 and C17 improvements, thoroughly
refurbished in the mid C19, renovated in 1986. Plastered stone rubble, probably
with cob; stone rubble stacks topped with C19 brick; slate roof.
Plan and development: originally a 3-room-and-through-passage plan house facing
south. At the left (west) end the inner room parlour has a projecting gable-end
stack. The hall has a large axial stack backing onto the former passage and a
curving stair turret projects to rear at the lower end. The passage lower screen
has been removed and the passage and service end kitchen united. The kitchen has a
gable-end stack. C19 1-room plan service block projects at right angles to rear of
the passage and a curving stair turret projects to rear at the lower end. The
passage lower screen has been removed and the passage and service end kitchen
united. The kitchen has a gable-end stack. C19 1-room plan service block projects
at right angles to rear of the passage and kitchen and it has a gable-end stack.
C19 outshots across the back of the rest of the main block.
The one surviving original roof truss proves that the original house was open to the
roof and heated by an open hearth fire. In the later C16 and C17 the chimney stacks
were inserted and the house progressively floored over. In the late C17-early C18
the service end was rebuilt as a kitchen, and the mid C19 refurbishment involved a
complete rebuild of the inner room parlour end. House is 2 storeys.
Exterior: irregular 3-window front of various C20 windows. At the right end there
is a 1986 oak-framed casement on each floor. To left 3 French windows (the right
one the former passage front doorway) and 2 first floor horned 16-pane sashes. The
roof is gable-ended. The main doorway is now in the left (west) end and it contains
a C20 door. C19 and C20 casements to rear, most of them with glazing bars.
Interior: the former hall contains most of the historic fabric. At the upper end
is the headbeam of an oak plank-and-muntin screen. The missing muntins were
evidently moulded. Directly above the first floor crosswall is large-panel oak
framing. This is in fact secondary (probably mid C16) infilling of a formerly open
truss (the only original one left). It is a side-pegged open truss with provision
for windbraces. it is smoke-blackened from the original open hearth fire. The
inserted hall fireplace (mid or late C16) is built of neat blocks of chert with a
soffit-chamfered oak lintel which has been cut away in the centre to make a low ogee
arch; it seems the fireplace was narrowed a little. The early or mid C17 3-bay
ceiling is carried on richly-moulded axial beams with step stops. There are some
sections of C17 small-field oak panelling around the hall. The staircase is C17 in
style but was built in 1986. The kitchen has plain carpentry detail. The crossbeam
and the oak lintel of the fireplace both have roughly-chamfered soffits. There is
also here a reset length of timber; a beam of massive scantling and early or mid
C16 in date. It is a piece from an early or mid C16 intersecting beam ceiling. It
is unusually richly moulded and includes a band of twisted bead and ribbon. The
rest of the house has C19 carpentry only.

Listing NGR: ST0334520410

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26440761

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

• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)