Description

TWITCHEN SS 72 NE 14/207 Higher Bickingcott Farmhouse and - shippon adjoining to west II Farmhouse, now house. Early to mid-C17, extended or rebuilt in the early C18. Mid- to late C19 porch. Probably mid-C19 shippon. House and shippon altered in the late C20. C17 part of rendered cob on sandstone plinth and C18 range with painted sandstone rubble to ground floor and rendered cob to first floor. Rendered to rear. Dressed sandstone porch. Shippon of uncoursed stone rubble. Gable-ended Welsh-slate roofs, probably formerly thatched. Half-hipped asbestos roof over rear wing. Rendered C17 stack with C19 red-brick top, and dressed-sandstone C17 stacks with weatherings and string courses. Plan and development: C17 two-roomed baffle-entry range, facing south (site falls to left), with larger principal room (present kitchen) to right, smaller (unheated) room to left, and axial stack with staircase to rear. C17 one-room plan wing to rear of right-hand (principal) room. C17 house possibly formerly extended further to right. Early C18 addition (or possible rebuilding) to right, set at slight angle to C17 range. C18 two-roomed central-entrance plan, with integral end stacks, and central staircase rising from entrance lobby, flanked by plank and muntin screens. C19 additions include gabled porch to C17 range and shippon adjoining to left. Two storeys. Exterior: Asymmetrical front. Late C20 plastic windows, in old openings. C17 range with 2 first floor 2-light casements flanking central fixed window, ground-floor 2- light casement to left and ground-floor 3-light casement to front. Central C17 boarded door with wrought-iron strap hinges and ovolo-moulded pegged wooden frame. Stone porch with segmental brick-arched opening and shaped barge boards, and approached by stone steps. Early C18 range to right with 3-bay front; first-floor 2- light casements and ground-floor 3-light casements. Central C20 half-glazed door with C19 or early C20 chamfered pegged wooden frame. Projecting semi-circular bread oven to right-hand gable end. Various C19 wooden casements to rear. Rear wing with possibly C18 first-floor 2-light wooden casement in gable end. Shippon to left. First-floor 2-light wooden casement to right with stone segmental arched head, wrought-iron bars and internal wooden shutters and large C20 first-floor opening to left. Ground-floor C20 metal casement in old opening to right with stone flat-arched head and C20 stable-door off centre to right, in old opening with stone flat-arched head. C20 metal garage door inserted to left. Interior: Right-hand ground-floor room (kitchen) of C17 left-hand range with C17 chamfered cross beam and wall beam to right (scroll stop to front of cross beam and runout stops to rear of cross beam and to wall beam). C17 open fireplace to left with dressed sandstone jambs, chamfered wooden lintel (returning to jambs) and C19 overmantel with key and bracketed mantelshelf. C17 one-panelled cupboard in right- hand wall, with H-hinges. Old boarded door to ground-floor rear room with beaded frame. Ground-floor room in rear wing has C17 chamfered cross beam with broach stops. Right-hand range contains largely complete early C18 fittings: Unusual early C18 oak plank and muntin screens flanking staircase on each floor, with beaded edges to muntins and bottom rails and chamfered top rails. Each screen with C18 door, each of 4 raised and fielded panels with beaded frames and much old wrought-iron door furniture including H-L hinges, latches and bolts. Central C18 oak staircase with beaded matchboarded sides, and balustrades to landing with beaded rectangular- section balusters, beaded rectangular newel posts and beaded handrail. Staircase formerly had a door at foot (see hinge marks), not in situ at time of survey (October 1987). Small first-floor dressing room above staircase at front; C18 oak vale screen with tall raised and fielded panels and muntins, and C18 door to left with raised and fielded panels. Left-and right-hand ground-floor rooms with plain ceiling joists, probably formerly ceiled (C20 ceiling joists in right-hand room). Left-hand room has open fireplace with wooden lintel and right-hand room has open fireplace with dressed stone jambs, plain wooden lintel and bread oven. Right-hand bedroom has cupboard with rehung C18 four-panelled door (possibly reused from foot of stair or from screen to left-hand bedroom) with H-L hinges and 2 diamond vents. C18 door with 4 raised and fielded panels leaning against wall in entrance lobby at time of survey, possibly door from foot of stairs or from screen to left-hand bedroom. C17 roof over C17 range with trusses consisting of principal rafters and lapped collars. C18 roof over C18 range consisting of open oak trusses with mortice and tenoned and pegged apices and pairs of staggered purlins. This is an unusual late example of the use of plank and muntin screens, and notable for their largely complete survival. Some re-ordering of the screens and doors etc. has been carried out in the C18 end of the house in the late C20. The present owner (October 1987) reports that this end of the house was latterly semi-derelict, and the right-hand rooms were without a first floor.

Listing NGR: SS7780728858

External Links

• Wikidata Q26576528

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Recommended Books

• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)