Description

MOLLAND
SS 82 NW
15/44 Bommertown Farmhouse and
- outbuilding adjoining to south-
west
II
Farmhouse and adjoining outbuilding. House of c.1500, altered and possibly enlarged
in the early to mid-C17. Minor late C19 alterations. Lean-to altered in the mid-to
late C20. Reduced at some time, possibly in the C17 or later. Rendered over
sandstone rubble and cob. Gable-ended asbestos-slate roof. C19 outbuilding of
coursed stone rubble with brick dressings and Welsh slate and corrugated iron roofs.
Rendered lateral and end stacks with weatherings and late-C19 brick top stages.
Plan and development: Possible former 3-room and cross-or-through-passage plan
facing south. Late-Medieval open-hall house, consisting of hall with cross passage
(probably formerly, through passage) to left and service room (present kitchen)
beyond, and also possibly formerly with inner room to right. Formerly open to the
roof, continuously from end to end, probably with low dividing partitions. C17
alterations included the insertion of the first floor, and addition of external
lateral stack to rear of hall. Service room probably extended to the left in the
C17 with integral end stack. Possibly former inner room to right of hall demolished,
either in the C17 or later. Eaves raised, probably in the C17, and staircase
inserted in cross passage, also probably in the C17 although the present staircase is
early C19. Continuous lean-to outshut at rear, probably C18 or C19, with part to the
rear of the right-hand end raised by one storey in the mid-to late C20. Mid to late
C19 outbuilding with loft added at right angles to front of kitchen, formerly partly
the cider house. The possible demolition of an inner room and the possible
enlargement of the service end might have been to give the house a roughly
symmetrical front, possibly in the C17 or even later. Alternatively the Medieval
house might only have consisted of 2 rooms. Two storeys.
Exterior: Roughly symmetrical front, with 5 windows to first floor and 2 to ground
floor; early and late C20 2-and 3-light wooden casements. Former cross-passage
doorway to centre, with C20 boarded door and early C20 lean-to oven projection to
left-hand gable end. Former cider house adjoining at right angles to front of
kitchen with lean-to glazed porch in front and external stone steps up to boarded
loft door in gable end to front. Small lean-to in front of gable end with 2
segmental-headed boarded doors to side.
Interior: Former hall has chamfered cross beams with stepped runout stops. Late C19
fireplace with semi-circular cast-iron grate and plain surround with bracketed
mantelshelf. Front window with jambs continuing to ground level. Kitchen with
blocked old fireplace and bench on front right-hand side wall with matchboarded back
and shaped legs. Dairy to rear of kitchen with old nail-studded doors and C19 2-
light wooden mullioned windows with boarded internal shutters. 4-panelled doors to
left and right of small entrance hall. Early C19 staircase rising from entrance with
stick,balusters. Opening in rear wall and below stairs, possibly former rear door to
through passage. First floor with old boarded doors and one C18 or early C19 door
with 4-raised and fielded panels. Dividing wall between 2 right-hand bedrooms
removed in the late C20, revealing the front blade of the right-handcruck truss.
Remains of late-Medieval smoke blackened roof consisting of 2 fine side-pegged
jointed cruck trusses, one at each end of hall, with collars, pairs of trenched
purlins (only the top pair appear to survive) mortice and tenoned apices and
diagonally-set ridge piece, sawn off at left-hand end. Cross beam notched between
upper purlins over the bedroom over the hall, probably inserted in the C17 to support
the first-floor ceiling. Five C17 principal-rafter trusses with collars and halved
apices. Pairs of purlins between. Late C20 roof over.

Listing NGR: SS8186726098

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26508220

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

• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)