Description

SY 19 NE
3/101

NORTHLEIGH
Northleigh Farmhouse

22.2.55

GV
II
Farmhouse. Probably C16 origins, with major later C16 and C17 (one of them dated 1664), and a major early C19 refurbishment. Plastered local stone and flint rubble, maybe with some cob; stone rubble stacks with plastered brick chimneyshafts; the central selection of the roof is thatched, the sections each end are slated.

Plan and development: a much altered four-room-and-through-passage plan house facing north-north-east, say north. At the left (east) end is the service end kitchen with a gable-end stack. The other (right-hand) side of the passage is the hall with an axial stack backing onto the passage. The inner room has been divided into the main entrance hall at the front with the stair rising between the hall and a small study/office which has an axial stack backing onto the parlour at the right (west) end. This parlour has a gable-end stack. Later alterations, particularly the early C19 refurbishment, have removed or obscured all the evidence of the original house although it seems clear that the house began as a C16 three-room-and-through-passage plan house. This was undoubtedly some kind of open hall house maybe heated by an open hearth fire. The fourth room, the parlour, was added in the C17, maybe in 1664, the date on some ornamental plasterwork in the chamber there. The service end kitchen was refurbished about the same time and was much altered again in the early C19. The passage, hall and inner room was much rebuilt in the early C19 and although the basic layout was retained the first floor and roof level were raised. At the same time the inner room was rearranged and divided. A new main door was inserted through the front wall to an entrance hall with a stair rising alongside a small study/office. House is two storeys with attics.

Exterior: irregular 1:3:1 window front. The left end one-window section contains a C19 casement with glazing bars below a C17 oak four-light window with ovolo-moulded mullions. The centre three-window section contains early C19 sixteen-pane sashes, the centre ones in tripartite sashes. This section also contains the two front doorways. The left one is the passage front doorway which contains a C20 door (it had apparently been blocked by a window but was restored to a doorway in the C20). The right one is the new doorway inserted in the mid C19 and it contains a part-glazed sixth-panel door and a doorcase with pedimented head. The right-hand section contains sixteen-pane sashes. The roof is gable-ended with the centre section higher than each end. There is a central casement dormer. The rear has fewer windows but there is to the stairs, a tall round-headed window with Y-tracery which contains some interesting stained glass.

Interior: shows detail mainly from the C19 renovation. For the most part the original layout is preserved and therefore older structural carpentry might survive under C19 plaster. However some features do show in the C17 extension. The crossbeams over the ground floor room are chamfered with scroll stops. The fireplaces on both floors here are blocked by C19 grates but there is a disused newel stair rising alongside the stack. Also, on the first floor, there is an ornamental plaster overmantel showing the arms of William Bowden and the date 1664. It is now papered over.

The roof is inaccessible but is thought to be mostly C19 carpentry. Despite the earlier work here the farmhouse is essentially the result of a major early C19 refurbishment and a great deal of joinery and other detail remains of that date. It would be unfortunate if this C19 work was removed in an attempt to find fragmentary earlier features.

Listing NGR: SY1952795742

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26457214

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

• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990