Description

STOKEINTEIGNHEAD LOWER ROCOMBE
SX 9070-9170

17/387 Orchard Farm & Lower Rocombe
Cottage

II

House. Late medieval origins, late C20 renovations and partial conversion of an
adjoining outbuilding. Whitewashed rendered cob on stone rubble footings; thatched
roof, gabled at right end, hipped at left end, axial stack with rendered shaft, rear
left lateral stack.
Plan: end on to the road, 3 room and cross passage plan, lower end to the left, hall
stack backing on to passage. Originally an open hall house, probably early C16.
Details of the C16 plan not entirely clear at time of survey as roof not thoroughly
inspected but the right hand end of the house has a medieval roof structure with
blackened timbers and it is possible that the house had 2 open hearths (blackened
infill on truss between hall and inner room, in the inner room side). The house was
probably floored in the C17 with the stacks added but interior modernization has left
relatively little dateable evidence other than the plan on the ground floor. Rear
lean-to with concrete tile roof probably a C19 addition,lean-to at right end. A rear
left range of farmbuildings at right angles to the lower end and parallel with the
road has been partly converted to extend the house. The unconverted part of the
range is said to have been a blacksmith's shop and has a modern monopitch roof.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 4 window front plus one window to the lean-to at
the right end, the eaves thatch eyebrowed over the 2 right hand first floor windows.
C20 casements with glazing bars. C20 front door to passage to left of centre.
Interior: The hall has a rebuilt fireplace and a chamfered stopped beam against the
partition wall with the inner room. A second chamfered stopped half beam in the
hall is probably re-sited. The lower end room has a rebuilt fireplace and C20
slender crossbeams with an earlier crossbeam to the passage partition.
Roof: 2 side-pegged jointed cruck trusses visible over the hall and inner room.
Apex of hall truss not inspected but the principals have a soot crust. The truss
over the inner room/hall partition has a collar mortised into the principals, a
threaded diagonally set ridge and threaded purlins and the blackened medieval roof
survives to the right end of the house, complete with sooted thatch, rafters and
battens. The visible truss has a blackened cob infill.
An evolved house of medieval origins.

Listing NGR: SX9096970092

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26464157

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

• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)