Description

MOLLAND
SS 8028-8128
20/85 Great Abbotts Farmhouse
- II
Farmhouse. Probably circa 1500, remodelled in the mid-C17. Altered internally c.1700
and outshut probably added in the C18. Remodelled and partly rebuilt in the mid - to
late C19 and roof altered in the mid-C20. Coursed stone rubble with some red-brick
dressings to left-hand end and to outshut, rendered to front. Some old cob in rear
and in right-hand gable end. Gable-ended corrugated-asbestos roof. Square stone
ridge stack with weatherings.
Plan and development: C17 three-room baffle-entry plan, facing south (ground falls to
right). Axial stack with back to back fireplaces serving larger room (probably
former kitchen) to left and present kitchen (probably former parlour) on lower level
to right. Rectangular stair projection at rear of stack. Probably C18 or C19
outshut at rear. Unheated room on lower level to right of kitchen, probably
partially rebuilt in the mid-to late C19. The present kitchen was probably the
parlour until the early C18 at least (see high - quality C18 wall cupboards).
Staircase inserted in kitchen, possibly in the C18. The right hand ground-floor room
was in use as a store at the time of survey (July 1987). The present layout might
reflect the extent of the late-Medieval house although its plan has been extensively
altered. The right hand end room might be a rebuilding of a former service room and
the C17 parlour and kitchen are possibly rebuildings of hall and inner room
respectively. Two storeys.
Exterior: Asymmetrical south front. 5 first-floor C19 2-and 3-light (mostly small-
paned) wooden casements. Two ground-floor late C19 three-light wooden casements to
left and C19 fixed 6-pane window to right. C19 or C20 boarded door between first and
second windows from left and boarded door to left of right hand window at lower end.
Interior: Lobby with old nail-studded boarded door to left-hand room and C18 or C19
4-panelled door to right-hand room. Left-hand room has C17 chamfered cross beam with
scroll stops and blocked fireplace with late C19 mantelshelf consisting of central
key block and scrolled brackets supporting shelf. Kitchen to right of stack has
chamfered spine beam with broach stops and blocked fireplace. Two early C18 wall
cupboards with raised and fielded panels and beaded edges, that to rear with 2 panels
to each door and that in right-hand wall with 2 panels to each upper door and single
panels to lower doors. Window seat. Probably C18 door to staircase from kitchen,
with H-L hinges. Old boarded door between kitchen and right-hand room, with old
strap hinges. Right-hand end room with C17 chamfered spine beam. C17 oak winder
stair in rectangular projection at rear of stack, with late C17 or early C18
balusdrade to landing consisting of splat balusters (centre one missing at time of
survey), square newel post and beaded handrail. Old wide floorboards to first floor
and old boarded doors with strap hinges to first-floor rooms, that to left-hand room
with nail studding.
Remains of probably c.1500 roof construction consisting of pair of probably cruck
trusses flanking stack, the rear blade of the left-hand one removed, probably when
staircase added. Left-hand truss truncated at first-floor ceiling level and right-
hand truss (with evidence of chamfer to front blade) obscured by stack in roofspace.
Only left-hand part of roofspace inspected; C17 open truss has straight principals
with trenches for former purlins. Rest of roof mainly C20. Cased purlins visible in
first-floor rooms. Evidence of half-hip in left-hand end of roof. No smoke
blackening inside in that part of the roof which was inspected.

Listing NGR: SS8056828512

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26508608

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

• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)