Description

SS 92 SE BAMPTON

6/15 Lower Rill
-

II

Farmhouse. Circa early C16 origins, remodelled circa early C17, left end reduced to
single storey in the C20. Colourwashed rendered cob on stone rubble footings ;
asbestos slate roof (formerly thatched), gabled at ends ; right end stack with stone
shafts, massive projecting front lateral stack (partly slate-hung) with stone shaft.
Plan: Present plan is 3 rooms wide (left end room single storey) with evidence of a
former through or cross passage to right of centre ; later single storey rear outshut
smoke-blackened roof timbers indicate that the middle room was open to the roof but
the 2 end rooms may have been 2 storey giving a plan of open hall in the centre ;
unheated inner room to the left and lower end room to the right heated from the right
end stack. The hall was probably floored in the early C17 when the front lateral
stack was added. A probably C18 stair has been inserted to the rear of the passage
and the rear outshut may also be C18 providing a backhouse and dairy. In the C20 the
inner room was reduced to a single-storey lean-to and the thatch replaced with
asbestos slates.
Exterior: Main range 2-storey, single-storey at left end. Asymmetrical 4 window
front with small timber casement windows with glazing bars. C20 porch to right of
stack into former passage. Separate entrance on front into lower end room.
Interior: C17 carpentry and joinery survives, and other features may be concealed
behind wall plaster. The lower end room has a deeply-chamfered crossbeam with
remarkably long step hollow stops ; open fireplace partly blocked but the original
jambs and lintel survive. Both the centre and left hand rooms have deeply-chamfered
step-stopped cross beams, the left hand beam no longer supports a floor. The
survival of plank and muntin screens is notable : one on the ground floor between
passage and lower end room and 2 on the first floor forming the partition walls of
the room over the hall.
Roofspace not thoroughly inspected but of the 2 jointed crucks the truss over the
hall appears to be smoke-blackened with sooted rafters, purlins and ridge. The lower
end truss appears to be clean.
Water pump in working order in the rear right outshut.
A late medieval house with an unspoiled interior and good survival of C17 features.

Listing NGR: SS9904724339

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26593607

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

• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)