Description

DUNSFORD BUTTS, (south side), Dunsford
SX 88 NW

6/45 Old Cawte Farmhouse and wall to the
north west
11.11.52 (formerly listed as Court Farmhouse)

GV II -

House and adjoining wall. House possibly early C16 in origin with late C16 and
mid/late C17 alterations, C20 renovations. Whitewashed rendered cob and stone
rubble; thatched roof, gabled at left end, half-hipped at right end; projecting left
end stack with brick shaft, projecting granite ashlar stack with set-offs, tall
granite shaft and cap on front wall at right.
Single depth 2-room main range with heated rooms on either side of a passage
(formerly a through passage). The right-hand room, heated from the front lateral
stack appears to have been the late C16 hall, the left-hand room, probably originally
the lower end, is a circa mid to late C17 parlour although clearly used as a kitchen
in the C19. There is an unheated rear right wing adjoining the higher (right) end
which has some stone rubble wailing and may have been partly or wholly rebuilt. The
roof truss over the lower end appears to pre-date the truss over the higher end, and
may be late medieval in origin. The evolution of the house is clearly complex. A
possible sequence of development is an open hall 2-room house of the early C16
(although without access to the roofspace at time of survey (1985) this remains
unproven) remodelled in the late C16 as a 2-storey 2- or 3-room plan, the hall heated
from the lateral stack and possibly with a parlour wing at the rear. The next phase
appears to have been the refurbishing of the lower end as a circa mid to late C17
parlour, the roof over the higher end may have been rebuilt at the same time. The
position of the kitchen at this date is uncertain and it may have been detached. The
rear wing appears to have been partly rebuilt in the C19.
2 storeys. Nearly symmetrical 3-window front, the eaves thatch eyebrowed over the 2
outer windows and rising as a gabled dormer in the centre. Fine projecting granite
ashlar stack heating hall to right of the doorway to the passage; the doorway has an
old pegged doorframe and 3 granite steps in front. Fenestration of 2-light C20
windows with diamond-leaded panes; small timber stair window to ground floor left
constructed out of a single piece of timber. Projecting semi-circular stone rubble
bread oven at left gable end.
Interior high quality C16 and C17 interior features, including a fine oak plank and
muntin screen to the left (lower end) of the passage, the muntins chamfered with bar
stops on both sides of the screen which has an inserted C20 door. The C17 parlour
(to the left) has a chamferedcross beam with elaborate bar stops. The fireplace is
partly blocked but has a chamfered timber lintel and chamfered timber jambs on stone
rubble footings. Adjacent to the stack is a timber newel stair in a rounded internal
stair turret. The hall(to the right of the passage) has a fine C16 granite
fireplace(partly blocked) with a massive hollow-chamfered granite lintel and hollow-
chamfered granite jambs.
No access to roofspace at time of survey (1985) but the pegged collar rafter truss
over the right end appears to be C17 with a cranked collar mortised into straight
principal rafters. The truss over the left-hand end is a jointed cruck and is said
to show evidence of smoke-blackening.
A section of tall cob wall with tile capping adjoins the house at the north west.
An evolved house with some fine C16 and C17 features.

Listing NGR: SX8114289147

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26509831

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

• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Period property manual, victorian house manual 2 books collection set by ian rock