Description

TQ 64 SW PEMBURY AMHURST BANK ROAD

5/353 The Old Mill

II

Former farmhouse, once including a mill. Early C17 with mid/late C17
extension, some C19 and C20 modernisation. Timber-framed. Most of the ground
floor is underbuilt with brick of various periods, e.g. some C17 English bond
brick in the service block, C19 Flemish bond brick on the left (south east)
end of the main block and, at the rear of the main block some original framing
is exposed and is nogged with C17 stretcher bond brick. Framing above is hung
with peg-tile. Brick stack with staggered chimneyshaft; peg-tile roof.

Plan: Basically an L-plan house facing north, east. The main block has a 2-
room plan with an axial stack between serving back-to-back fireplaces. The
left room was probably the parlour, the other the kitchen. Front lobby
entrance now incorporated into a C19 projecting stairblock. Secondary (but
still C17) service block projects at right angles in front to the left (south
east) end. It has a one-room plan and its front gable-end stack is a C20
addition. This service wing was probably the mill although there is no
structural evidence showing for its use as such.

2 storeys with attics in the roofspace and secondary lean-to outshots on the
right end of the main block and on the front to right of the stairblock.

Exterior: Doorway in the stairblock. It contains a late C19 4-panel door
under a flat hood on raking struts. Window alongside and another above but
most windows on the right (south east) end and to rear. Both have irregular
2-window fronts and all windows are C20, a variety of casements with glazing
bars. Also C20 French window roughly central in the south east end. Main
block roof is half-hipped both ends. Service block or mill and the stairblock
roofs are gable-ended.

Interior: C17 carpentry is well-preserved in both blocks. In the main block
the left (south eastern) room, the probable parlour, is larger. It and the
chamber above have chamfered axial beams, the chamber one with scroll stops.
Smaller rooms have plain joists. No carpentry is exposed on the ground floor
of the service wing or mill. Wall framing is exposed on the first floor. The
main block frame has large curving braces and large scantling wall posts. The
service wing or mill frame is of lesser scantling and also includes evidence
of ribbon windows round the first floor room. Main block roof is 3 bays of
clasped side purlin construction and many common rafters are original. Some
have an uneasy relationship with the stack and the right (north west) tie-beam
has mortises towards the chimneybreast. These inconsistencies suggest that
the stack was originally smaller or maybe was originally timber-framed.

Listing NGR: TQ6322243077

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26545979

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

• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2