Description

THELBRIDGE
SS 81 SW
3/250 Henceford Farmhouse
-
- II

Farmhouse. Probably mid-C16 with major later C16 and C17 improvements and late C19-
early C20 extension. Plastered cob on rubble footings; rubble stacks topped with C20
brick; corrugated asbestos roof (formerly thatched). Long building facing south with
a 4-room-and-through-passage plan, that is to say, the inner room at the left
(west)end was separated from the hall by a lobby room. Projecting newel stair turret
to rear of lobby. Right (service end) extended in late C19-early C20. Projecting
end stack to inner room/parlour, axial stack backing onto passage to hall and rear
lateral stack to service room. 2 storeys. Irregular 6-window front of C20 iron-
framed casements without glazing bars. C20 door to passage right of centre and C20
French windows with glazing bars to former lobby. Roof is hipped to right and gable-
ended to left. Both hall and inner rooms have original broad stone rubble chimney
shafts with dripcourses and coping, now topped with brick.
Good interior. The oldest apparent feature is a side-pegged jointed cruck truss over
the hall. It is arguably smoke-blackened suggesting possibility of open hearth fire
in original open hall. Possibly contemporary oak plank-and-muntin screen at upper
end of hall with chamfered muntins roll-stopped high enough to accommodate a bench
below and includes flat-arch headed doorway. House was extensively refurbished in
early or mid C17 and most other exposed features appear to date from that period.
Hall has rubble fireplace with a massive timber corbel carrying lintel on right side
and the lintel is soffit-chamfered with straight cut stops. Hall beam chamfered with
roll stops. Another plank-and-muntin screen between lobby and inner room/parlour was
removed within living memory. Parlour has double-ovolo moulded crossbeams with bar-
scroll stops. Rubble fireplace has replacement lintel. Partitions either side of
lobby are carried up and their oak framing is exposed in roofspace. Both are
identical closed trusses with unusually-shaped dovetail lap-jointed collars. Section
above collars have never been filled and might be considered partly smoke-blackened.
Service end has an A-frame truss with mortice, tenoned and pegged collar. Service
end fireplace which includes brick oven is probably C19.

Listing NGR: SS8226111658

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26553776

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

• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)