Description

MOLLAND
SS 82 NW
15/49 East Lee Farmhouse and East Lee
- Cottage (formerly listed as Nos 1
and 2, East Lee Cottages)
20.2.67
II
Farmhouse, now divided. Circa 1500, altered in the early C17, and probably further
altered in the C18. Some late C20 alterations. Coursed stone rubble and cob, mostly
all rendered. Gable-ended corrugated-asbestos roof (formerly thatched), hipped to
right. Stone lateral and end stacks with weatherings, that to front partly rebuilt
in C19 red brick and that to left rendered.
Plan and development: 3-room and cross-passage plan facing south. Ground falls to
left. Late-Medieval open hall house consisting of hall with former inner room to
right and former cross passage to left with room beyond; formerly open to the roof
from end to end, probably with low dividing partitions. C17 alterations included
insertion of the first floor, and probable rebuilding of the dividing walls.
Inserted external lateral stack to front wall and inserted end stacks to inner room
and service room. Cob wall between hall and inner room, rising to eaves level. The
dividing cob wall possibly dates from the late-Medieval period as a smoke-blackened
post attached to it on the hall side, but the wall does not appear to be blackened in
the roofspace, although it might be obscured by later paint. The dividing wall might
have been inserted (or raised) in a transitional stage of the flooring. It is
possible that the upper and lower ends were floored first, leaving the hall open to
the roof, heated either by the former open hearth or by the inserted stack on the
front wall. The post in the roof, from the top of the dividing wall to the apex,
might pre-date the wall (see smoke blackening on both sides), possibly formerly
rising from a wooden screen, or might be contemporary with it, perhaps replacing a
roof truss. It is possible that if there were a transitional stage, with the hall
open to the roof, the roofspace still remained open from end to end. Rectangular
stair projection added at rear of upper end of hall in the C17 when the first floor
was inserted and probably also raised in the C17 (see projection at eaves to front
and rear). Continuous lean-to outshut at rear, probably a C17 or C18 addition.
Probably C18 1-roomed addition to right, ground-floor room now workshop and entered
from end wall. The house was divided in the late C19 or the C20 and the lower end,
cross passage and former service room has been much altered in the late C20 with
inserted dividing walls. C20 staircase at rear of former cross passage, probably
replacing inserted C19 stair. Cross-passage door blocked (now window), probably in
the C19 or C20. Door inserted in front hall of inner room in the C20. 2 storeys.
Exterior: Asymmetrically-fenestrated front. Four windows to first floor, three C19
3-light small paned wooden casements to left and C20 two-light wooden casements to
right, and 5 windows to ground floor, late-C20 2-,3-and 4-light wooden casements.
Boarded door with late-C20 gabled porch between first and second window from left.
C20 half-glazed door between second window from left and stack, and boarded door
between first and second windows from right. Projecting stack to front with
chamfered plinth and chamfered offsets.
llnterior: Former hall (kitchen of right-hand house) has pair of C17 deep-chamfered
cross beams and half beams to right, all with scroll stops. Open C17 fireplace to
front wall with dressed stone jambs, chamfered wooden lintel, bread oven and small
side window to east. Former inner room to right with plastered spine beam, blocked
old fireplace and old boarded cupboard door to right of fireplace with H-L hinges.
Former service room to left (part of left-hand cottage) with chamfered cross beam and
open fireplace with wooden lintel and flat stone arch, possibly C18. First-floor
rooms with old floorboards and old boarded doors. Blocked window to rear of first-
floor room over former inner room. Old attic stairs at right-hand end; old boarded
door with strap hinges at foot of stairs. Remains of smoke-blackened late-Medieval
roof include hip cruck at right-hand end, which has a tenon at the end with a peg
hole (probably formerly to take ridge-piece), and post attached to cob wall between
hall and inner room, with tenoned V-shaped notched top, probably to take former
diagonally-set ridge-piece. Principal-rafter truss at lower end of hall, probably
C17, possibly earlier. Two probably C17 or C18 principal-rafter trusses over former
service end with pegged collars and mortice and tenoned apices. Cross beam over
hall, notched over lower purlins and with timber tenoned (and pegged) in centre of
lower edge, possibly formerly part of a construction to suspend cooking utensils etc.
over former open hearth. Late-C20 roof above.

Listing NGR: SS8217826858

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26508264

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

• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  For the Record