Description

OTTERHAM OTTERHAM SX 19 SE 3/116 Churchtown Farmhouse GV II

Farmhouse. Probably C16 with C17, C18, C19 and C20 alterations including the parlour wing dated 1682. Colourwashed stone rubble, partly roughcast. Rag slate roof with gabled ends; bitumen-coated front slope of main range. The adjoining lower end outbuilding has exposed stone rubble walls with corrugated iron roof at lower level with gable end. Rendered front lateral stack; gable end stack of parlour wing to right has rebuilt brick shaft. Plan : 3 room and through passage plan, the lower end to the left is an outbuilding, the hall has a front lateral stack and the inner room to the right is unheated. In 1682 a parlour wing with a gable end stack was added to the front of the higher right end, and in the C18 to C19 outshots were added to the front of the hall and passage, behind the inner room and part of the hall, and outshots were also added at the back and front of the lower end. The development is uncertain but it seems that the original house consisted of the hall, possibly open to the roof, the through passage and the lower end which has been rebuilt but may have been a shippon. The inner room was also possibly part of the original plan and the relative thinness of its walls would be due to the possible rebuilding of the higher end wall. There are solid partition walls at the higher and lower ends of the hall and on the lower side of the passage, all of which only rise to the first floor level; the partition wall on the lower side of the passage is noticeably irregular and over it the only surviving original truss (an open truss) is quite blackened which may not be smoke-blackening from an open hearth fire. The ceiling beams and joists in the hall are C17, the date of the flooring of the hall if it were originally open to the roof. The parlour wing was added to the front of the higher end in 1682 (dated window label) and may be coeval with the hall ceiling, the insertion of the front lateral hall stack and the raising of the roof of the main range. The lower end seems to have been rebuilt in C18 but retains its original ridge level. In C18 and C19 some remodelling was carried out for there are C18 doors on the first floor and an early to mid C19 framed staircase was inserted into the inner room. The site of the original staircase is not known. The dairy outshot at the back of the hall and inner room, the outshot in front of the hall and passage and the outshots at the front and back of the lower end are all additions probably of C18 and C19. The outshot at the front of the hall and passage blocked the passage doorway and a new doorway was inserted into the front of the higher end of the hall through the outshot which forms a porch here. Alterations in C20 include the replacing of the roof over the main range and the conversion of the lower end into a garage. 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 2 window front plus 1 window in gable end of projecting parlour wing to right. 2 C19 gabled half-dormers in main range either side of front lateral chimney stack; across the front a lean-to outshot with small C20 windows and lateral panelled door to right. Projecting parlour wings to right with a ground floor 3-light chamfered granite mullion window with a hood mould and square label stops dated 1682. Similar but smaller first floor window above without a hood mould, and above that in the gable a small single-light chamfered granite frame window blocked with a piece of slate; all these windows are on the left side of the gable end. The inner face of the wing has a C20 ground floor casement and a circa late C19 2-light first floor casement with glazing bars. The outer side of the wing leans outwards and is supported by 2 large raking masonry buttresses; the end wall of the inner room is straight and set back slightly; this side of the house has irregular fenestration of C19 and C20 small casements and the dairy outshot. The lower gable end of the outbuilding is open and C20 garage doors have been inserted. Interior : the hall has a chamfered cross beam and joists all with scroll stops; the lateral fireplace has a chamfered slightly cambered timber lintel and granite jambs, its oven has been partly removed and a C20 range inserted. At the opposite side and at the lower end of the hall a circa early C19 bench, partly flush-panelled and partly boarded. The parlour fireplace is said to have a granite surround but it is now concealed. Early to mid C19 framed staircase in the inner room with stick balusters and square newels. On the first floor are 2 C18 2-panel doors. Roofs : Over the parlour wing hardwood trusses with straight principals crossed lapped and pegged at the apex and the collars are lapped to the faces of the principals. The roof over the main range has bolted soft-wood trusses. The roof over the lower end (outbuilding) has trusses with lapped and pegged apexes and collars, but 1 truss over the partition on the lower side of the passage has square section principals, 1 of the blades has curved foot and the apex has a mortice and tenon joint. This truss is very dark but it is not clear whether smoke-blackened.

Listing NGR: SX1674590763

External Links

• Wikidata Q26517081

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

• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)