Description

WOOLFARDISWORTHY DENSHAM LANE
SS 80 NW
6/296 Higher Densham Farmhouse
-
- II

Farmhouse. Probably C16 core; major early and mid C17 improvements, rearrangement
and extension. Plastered cob on rubble footings; rubble stacks, 1 with original
mudstone chimney shaft and others topped with C19 and C20 brick; asbestos slate
roof (formerly thatch). L-shaped building. Main range facing south has 3-room
plan. It may have been a hall house with through passage but was rearranged in C17
and again in C19 and any earlier plan form is obscured. C17 rear block at right
angles behind right (east) end includes 2 service rooms and an agricultural store in
the end room. Centre room has granary over. Main block has projecting end stack at
left (west) end and axial stack between centre and right rooms. Rear block has
axial stack between domestic rooms. Stair block in angle of the two ranges. 2
storeys. Regular 3-window front of C20 casements without glazing bars. C19 6-panel
door right of centre. Wall plate discernable over centre and right rooms. Roof is
hipped to right and gable-ended to left. Projecting left end stack has original C17
chimney shaft built of small roughly-squared mudstone blocks laid to courses and
includes a dripcourse and plain coping. Windows to rear and in rear block are C20
casements similar to those on front. Agricultural store in end of rear block has
possibly C17 oak doorframe with chamfered surround in end wall. External stone
stairs on outer wall to granary. Rear block roof has hipped end.
Interior shows some C17 features but more are thought to be hidden by C19 plaster.
For instance, all the fireplaces are blocked. In main range only the right
(eastern) room has an exposed C17 beam; it is ovolo-moulded with scroll stops. C17
doorway from right room to rear block has chamfered and scroll-stopped oak lintel
and both domestic rooms of rear block have C17 chamfered and scroll-stopped
crossbeams. The roof structure appears to be work of 2 or 3 C17 building phases.
Only the upper part of most trusses can be examined. All appear to have no collars
whilst those in the front block have butt purlins and those in rear block have
trenched purlins. Rear block truss nearest the main range has principals which
curve together at the top creating a rounded apex and the mortise and tenon meet
head on. Only in the rear block granary is a complete truss exposed and it is a
side-pegged jointed cruck.

Listing NGR: SS8130009816

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26543298

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 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period property manual, victorian house manual 2 books collection set by ian rock
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)