Description

SWIMBRIDGE EAST STOWFORD
SS 62 NW
11/195 Stowford Farmhouse

GV II*

Farmhouse. Late C16 or early C17 with later C17 additions. Whitewashed rendered
stone and cob. Slate roof hipped at left end, gable end to right. 2 tall lateral
stone stacks to front with offsets and brick caps, heating hall and inner room.
End-through-passage plan with lower end demolished. Twin parallel gable-ended
adjoining wings to rear of 2 storeys with brick stack to the larger gable end
towards centre of rear and lean-to stair turret on its west side. Demolished
former axial stack with brick shaft heating chamber over hall. 2 storeys. 4
window range, mainly C19 fenestration, all 3-light casements except second from
right which is 2-lights, 2 panes per light. Ground floor has three 3-light
casements, that to left is 3 panes per light, those to right end have 10 panes per
light, and 4-light hall casement, 3 panes per light. Plank door at left end with 3
paned overlight. Tall timber ovolo mullion window of 2 lights to east side of rear
gable, 4 panes per light, the 2 lower panes forming casements. 2-light casement, 4
panes per light at gable end, above ovolo-moulded window surround of a former 4-
light mullion window, with the left side cut out and enlarged and doorway inserted.
To the rear, adjoining the rear through-passage doorway is a short rubble wall
extending westwards with tiled capping. A doorway through the wall has fine ovolo-
moulded timber surround with keel stops to the durns, possibly reset from the rear
of the through-passage.
Interior: Fine C17 features remarkably intact. Framed and ledged door with
original latch to doorway from through-passage to hall with large bulbous stops to
the ovolo-moulded surround. 2 ovolo-moulded beams to hall with possible carved
leaf stops obscured by later plastering. Horizontal tongue and groove dado
boarding to upper end of hall with integral settle. 2 ovolo-moulded door surrounds
with scroll stops to the durns to rear of hall giving access to stair turret and
kitchen wing, the latter with old plank door. Fine doorway to inner room with
large bulbous stops to ovolo-moulded surround. Central beam and bressumers to
inner room with elaborate multi-beaded moulding with carved leaf stops. Fine door
surround to rear of inner room with 4-centred arch with leaf spandrels and fluted
pilasters supporting pediment carved with Tudor Rose and strapwork ornamentation.
Roughly chamfered beam to kitchen extension, but fine ovolo-moulded door surround
to dairy with large bulbous stops to the durns. A second staircase from the
kitchen has a chamfered door surround at the head with scroll-stopped durns. The
majority of original plank doors survive to the upper storey. Principal chamber to
right now divided has plasterwork frieze at each end with fine plasterwork
overmantel to former fireplace depicting the sacrifice of Isaac with 4 heads around
the strapwork cartouche, large rosettes in the frieze and naturalistic moulding
with rampant beasts along the base of the overmantle. Doorway to chamber at head
of principal stairs has bulbous stops to the ovolo-moulded surround and further
scroll-stopped chamfered durns to the rear passage doorways. Chamber to rear wing
has similar doorway, with part of plain moulded plaster cornice surviving to 2
sides of the room. Above this room is a collar rafter roof which could not be
closely inspected. The parallel rear wing to the centre has a single C17 truss
with threaded purlins and ridge purlin with morticed and tenoned collar. The
roofspace to the main range is divided by a solid cob partition between the hall
and inner room rising to the apex of the roof. Over the hall are 2 trusses with
straight principals, trenched purlins and lap-jointed collars, all of slightly
rougher construction than the single truss over the inner room with threaded
purlins and ridge purlin. No signs of smoke blackening.

Listing NGR: SS6324826703

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17532375

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

• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey