Description

HALWELL
SX75SE
9/321 Farmstone Farmhouse

II

Farmhouse. Circa early C17, remodelled and extended in circa mid C18 and
restored and extended again in the late C20. Slate rubble; limestone
rubble C20 extensions. Welsh slate roofs with gabled ends; the roof over
the high right hand end has a lower pitch. Large rendered stone rubble
axial stack and stone rubble stack at either gable end.
Plan: 3-room and through passage plan, the lower end to the left. The
hall heated from an axial stack backing on to the passage which has a
large 2 storey porch on the front. The inner room to the right and the
chamber above are heated from a gable end stack. The lower end room was
the kitchen with a gabled projection at the back, like a short wing,
containing a large lateral fireplace with a very large oven, large smoking
chamber and an integral newel staircase; a second oven was inserted later.
The house was removelled in circa mid C18 when the lower end was extended,
possibly as a parlour, a parallel 2 storey wing containing the kitchen was
built at the back of the hall. It was either at this time or soon
afterwards that the higher end of the house was relegated to use as a farm
building, the eaves were raised, new openings inserted and an external
loft stairs added to the front. A single storey outshut, possibly the
dairy, was added to the rear of the lower end extension, probably in the
C19. In the late C20 the house was extensively restored, the entire roof
was replaced, a parallel range was added at the back of the high end in
the angle with the kitchen wing; the kitchen wing was extended at the back
and the lower end rear outshut was raised to 2 storeys; the higher end of
the house was brought back into domestic use and fine moulded ceiling beams
from a house in north Devon were reused in the hall.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Long asymmetrical 6-window range. C20 2 and 3-
light casements with glazing bars. C20 timber lintels, slate drip moulds
and cills. Small gable over front of lower left hand end. Stone steps up
to first floor doorway to right. To the left of centre a fine gabled 2-
storey porch with a chamfered round arch doorway with dressed slate
voussoirs; the first floor above slightly projects on a chamfered slate
wall plate. Inside the porch are benches made from the roof principals;
the inner doorway has an ovolo moulded timber lintel and a C20 door. In
the gable of the porch a lead Sun insurance plaque. The higher right hand
gable end has pigeon holes with slate ledges.
Rear elevation: Pair of gables to the right; the left hand gable
contains the stack, smoking chamber, oven and newel stairs, the right hand
gable was built in the late C20 over a lean-to outshut. To the left of
the passage doorway the kitchn wing has a C20 gable added to the back and a
C20 flat roof porch in the space behind the passage rear doorway. To the
left of the kitchen a C20 extension projects beyond the higher end of the
house with a parallel gable-ended roof.
Interior: A screen has been removed from the lower side of the passage
and replaced by C17 panelling from another house. The lower left end
room has a large kitchen fireplace, its timber lintel a replacement; to
the right of the fireplace the entrance fo a large smoking chamber, to the
left of which is a very large oven, both with corbelled stone roofs, that
of the oven has been removed when it was converted into a lavatory.
There is a later brick-lined oven which has been inserted into the left of
the fireplace to the left of which is an integral stone newel staircase.
The hall has a large axial fireplace backing onto the passage with a
chamfered timber lintel with butt stops, a stone rubble jamb to the left
and a monolithic jamb to the right; there is no oven. Reused from a house
in north Devon the hall has intersec-ting moulded ceiling beams and
chamfered joists; some of the joist stops and one of the beams have fern
leaf decoration. The chamber over the inner room has a gable end fireplace
with chamfered timber lintel with mutilated stops on shaped wooden corbels.
Roof has been entirely replaced in the late C20 but photographs taken
during the restoration show principals with dovetail lap jointed collars
and threaded purlins and over the hall a raised cruck truss, part of one
blade of which is stored in an outbuilding.
In the possession of the owner a copy of page from the Sun Insurance
ledger shows that Nicholas Jackson insured his new house and barns for
£200 in 1762. This date probably refers to the remodelling.

Listing NGR: SX7769352721

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26577282

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

• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)