Description

SX 86 NE BROADHEMPSTON 3/31 Ambrook Farmhouse including Courtyard Wall and doorway to 23.8.55 South - II* Farmhouse. C17 possibly with earlier origins, extended in circa early C19. Rubble walls, rendered to porch and lower, right hand, end. Dressed red sandstone detail to doorways. Slate roof, gable ended, hipped to wing. Rubble gable end stack to left and rendered rubble axial stack to right, lateral to wing. Originally 3-room and cross passage plan with lower end to the right and possibly original C17 staircase in small wing at rear of passage and 2 storey porch to the front. Lower end extended with wing to front in circa early C19 the lower side of which formed a new front to the road. 2 storeys. Asymmetrical front with (central) C17 2-storeyed gabled porch and wing at front of lower, right, end. To left of porch 1 late C20 3-light casement on ground and first floor with glazing bars. Porch has wide 4-centred arched red sandstone doorway with heavy roll moulding and carved foliage in spandrels. Mid C19 12-pane sash window above, with horns. Above that, carved in the render, as if a plaque is behind it, are the initials 'J.G' and the date 1673. To right of porch is blocked doorway and immediately beyond it the wall projects with a probably early C20 2-light casement. The wing projects to the right of it and a pentice slate roof runs along its inside face and across the front wall of the courtyard. The opposite side of the wing, facing the road, has an early C19 symmetrical 3-window front of 12-pane hornless sashes with a central 6-panel door which has a penelled surround and rectangular fanlight above it. The original front of the house had a courtyard which partially survives, with a certain amount of infilling, and at the front of it, opposite the porch is a narrow 4-centred arched red sandstone doorway with roll moulding and more simply carved spandrels. Its narrow width is unusual for a courtyard arch and it is possible that it has been re-used. Interior : contains fewer C17 features than might have been expected but those that do survive are of a good quality. The front doorway inside the porch has a heavy C17 square-headed wooden doorframe with ovolo and hollow moulding and vase stops : probably contemporary heavy plank and studded door with old brass keyhole. At the rear of the passage is large open well staircase to which the C17 octagonal newels survive which have hollow step stops to the chamfered edges. The original balusters have been replaced. The left hand ground floor room seems unlikely to have been a kitchen because its fireplace has a good quality ovolo-moulded wooden lintel. To the lower side of the passage the room layout has been altered and is now several smaller rooms with the lower end room remodelled as part of the C19 wing. It has a fireplace with a rough stone arch and panelled shutters to the window. On the first floor at the head of the staircase are 2 square-headed C17 wooden ovolo moulded doorframes with high hollow step stops. Probably C18/C19 roof timbers with straight principals and lapped collars. This was an important C17 house in the area, probably a gentry house, and as such is a relatively unusual survival; although many of its features have been lost those that survive are of a high quality and reflect the status of the house.

Listing NGR: SX8199265443

External Links

• Wikidata Q17535202

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Recommended Books

• 
  Northumberland (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)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)