Description

SS 92 SW STOODLEIGH

5/158 Down Farmhouse and adjoining
- outbuilding

II

Farmhouse. Circa early C16 origins, remodelled and probably extended in the circa
early C17. Colourwashed plastered stone and cob; thatched roof, gabled at ends,
half-hipped at end of wing; right end stack and axial stack to main block,, the right
end staack with a projecting bread oven, projecting lateral stack with set-offs to
wing. Adjoining outbuilding with a slate roof.
Plan: overall U plan, the single depth 3 room plan main block facing south with 2
front wings; the left hand wing domestic, the right hand wing consisting of a first
floor room projecting over a cart entrance and adjoining an outbuilding formerly in
use as a cider house. The main block was originally a late medieval open hall house,
the medieval timbers surviving over the right hand room and originally extending
further to the left, probably to the end of the block. The circa early C17
remodelling of the house is unusual in that there is no evidence of a cross or
through passage. The 2 right hand rooms are heated and of approximately equal size,
the extreme right hand room a kitchen with a narrow dog leg stair adjacent to the
stack, possibly replacing a newel; direct entrance into kitchen. The left hand end
of the block is divided between a small service room and a probably C18 stair. The
front left wing is circa late C16/early C17 with a separate entrance to the right
into an axial passage which gives access both to the left hand heated room and to the
main block with a service room to the rear of the passage. Although the wing appears
to be later than the main block it is possible that it is a co-eval 2 storey block
with a chamber over a parlour.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 2 window front with regular fenestration.
Probably C18 plank front door to right under a corrugated iron lean-to; C19 3-light
timber casements with glazing bars, brick sills and brick voussoirs to the ground
floor. The return of the left wing is blind except for a front door to the right
with a slated canopy and a 2-light first floor C19 timber casement above. The return
oil the right wing has a cart entrance to the left; the adjoining outbuilding has 3
ground floor doorways and 2 first floor winodws.
Interior: Virtually unaltered since the C19. The right end fireplace is partly
blocked but preserves an early lintel and probably C19 hearth seats and a C19 bread
oven. The centre room has 2 plastered-over crossbeams and a C20 fireplace probably
concealing earlier jambs and lintel. The service room has a chamfered step-stopped
crossbeam and cobbled floor; the heated room in the wing has a partly blocked
fireplace, probably concealing earlier features.
Roof: One smoke-blackened medieval truss over the kitchen complete with sooted
battens, rafters and thatch, diagonally-set ridge, collar replaced but formerly lap-
dovetailed onto principals. The sooted roof structure clearly extended beyond the
wattle and daub partition which now divides it from circa late C18 X apex trusses
over the rest of the main block: these are pegged at the apex with nailed trusses
over the wing with mortised collars.
A remarkably unaltered traditional house with a long building history.

Listing NGR: SS9270420341

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26611196

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

• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)