Description

SS 70 SW
2/28

BOW
BOW (south side)
The Old School House

GV
II

House, former schoolmaster's house. Early C16 with later C16 and C17 improvements.
Plastered cob on rubble footings, and C20 repairs in plastered rubble with brick
dressings rubble stacks with C20 brick tops; thatched roof.
L-shaped building with 2 room main block facing north, with large axial stack
serving back-to-back fireplaces. The larger left (east) was probably early C16
hall. Right room rebuilt in early-mid C17. On left end a probably mid C16
crosswing with outer lateral stack projecting forward. A similar crosswing on right
end was demolished in C19 in order to widen Station Road. C20 outshots to rear. 2
storeys.
Front of main block has C20 glass-sided porch at left end in angle of the two wings
and to right a single C20 fixed pane window containing leaded diamond panes.
Similar windows on right gable end and to rear. Inner side of crosswing has C20
curving oriel windows with glazing bars. Gable end of this wing is blind. On outer
side roofline now carried down over former narrow gap between the house and
adjoining property.
Good interior of a house with a long and complex structural history. The earliest
surviving features are the putative hall and crosswing roofs. 2-bay hall roof with
side-pegged jointed cruck truss and cambered collar. The roof bay towards the stack
(west) has a square set ridge, the other bay has a diagonal set ridge. The former
is probably early C16, the latter probably mid C16 and built at same time as cross
wing. Both sections of roof are heavily sooted indicating that hall at least was
open to the roof and heated by an open hearth fire. Crosswing roof on side-pegged
jointed cruck trusses with cambered collars and diagonal set ridge. It too is
smoke-blackened. Truss nearest main block infilled in late C16 and is smoke-
blackened on hall side only. Crosswing floored in mid C17 and the chamfered
crossbeam with exaggerated scroll stops is supported each end by posts with jowled
heads. Rubble fireplace of same date has oak lintel also soffit-chamfered with
exaggerated scroll stops. Hall has late C16 crossbeam, soffit-chamfered with
truncated pyramid stops. Hall stack is apparently mid C17, granite built with oak
lintel soffit-chamfered with scroll stops. Smaller similar fireplace backing onto
hall serving right ground floor room. Roof over this part also mid C17 with
plastered probably side-pegged jointed cruck truss with pegged lap-jointed collar
and dovetail halvings. The floor levels are very uneven throughout the house and
there is a tradition of a lost cellar.

Listing NGR: SS7220501722

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26464114

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

• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)