Description

TM 06 SW
4/209
15.3.88

WETHERDEN
BASE GREEN
Batts Farmhouse

II

Farmhouse; C17 with probable C19 addition. Timber framed, apparently box frame constrution on a brick plinth,rendered; brick chimney stack, outshuts brick built in Flemish Bond, pantiled roofs.

PLAN: The house is two cell, of two storeys, originally lobby or baffle entry, that is with the front door opening onto the central chimney stack: this entrance may survive as the door between corridor and kitchen. There are single storey outshuts to rear and north-west gable.

EXTERIOR: The south west elevation has three windows to the first floor and one to the ground: the main entrance has been moved to give direct access to the north-west room, and a modern glazed porch or conservatory added to the north end of this elevation. French doors have also been inserted in the south-east gable, which also has two first floor windows and an attic window. In the north east elevation a small window in the first floor cuts into the roofline of the outshut below. All windows are modern.

INTERIOR: Inside the timber framing of the walls is on the whole concealed under plaster; on the ground floor only the sill beam is visible resting on the brick plinth in the north-east wall of the southeast room, and there are posts and studs on the first floor landing. In both ground floor rooms cross beams at either end support axial beams which in turn support floor joists. Both axial beams are chamfered with carved stops. Fireplaces in both rooms have been rebuilt in brick: in the case of the north-west room, the wall around the fireplace has been reconstructed, with arched niches on either side of the fireplace itself opening onto space behind the wall. A short corridor connects the two rooms. To the left of the door from the south east room is an enclosed winder stair set against the chimney stack. At the end of the corridor is a walk-in cupboard, with door to the north-west room to the left. On the first floor timber framing is visible as upright studs, chamfered axial and transverse beams and joists. The original wide planked floors survive, and there is a fireplace in the largest, north-west, bedroom; this room occupies the width of the house. The slope of the central chimney stack can be seen in a small storage space behind this room. A corridor from the landing connects the other rooms. None of the doors are original. The roof space was not seen, but applicant's photos show that the roof timbers are modern.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: To the west of the house and associated with it are a range of sheds and outbuildings. These are in the same position as those shown on the 1886 OS map, but they have been much altered and extended, and their footprint is very different. Only a fragment of original fabric seems to survive towards the south end of the row of sheds, and these buildings are not of special historical or architectural interest.

HISTORY: Batts Farmhouse is a C17 building with probably later outshuts to the rear and to the northwest gable. The 1886 OS map shows that the rear outshut was extended in the C20, but that otherwise the house occupies very much the same footprint as it did at the date of the first ordnance survey. A small single storey porch at the north end of the south-west elevation is a C20 addition; this entrance replaced the original lobby entrance. The roof, windows and external doors were also replaced in the C20, and French windows were inserted into the south-east gable end.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION
Batts Farmhouse is designated at Grade II list for the following principal reasons:
* It is a C17 vernacular building which retains a significant proportion of its original fabric, including timber framing, ceiling beams, joists and floors.
* It is also of special interest for the survival of its essential plan form.
* It has group value with other listed farmhouses in its immediate neighbourhood, two of which are
within a distance of 200m; Meadow Croft, early C17, to the east and Rookyard Farm, late C15 or early C16, to the south.

Listing NGR: TM0144963621

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26573395

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

• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings