Description

BURLESCOMBE
ST 01 SE
9/11

Little Southdown Farmhouse

II

Farmhouse. C16 and C17, extensively-refurbished in the early C20. Plastered cob
on stone rubble footings; stone rubble and cob stacks topped with C20 brick; slate
roof.
Plan and development: originally a 3-room-and-through-passage plan house facing
south-east. It has an inner room parlour at the left (south-west) end with a
projecting gable-end stack. The hall has an axial stack backing onto the former
passage. The house was somewhat rearranged in the early C20. At this time the
passage lower partition was knocked out and the passage and small unheated service
end room were thrown together making the present kitchen. At the same time a new
stair was inserted into the parlour rising along the hall crosswall and a second
front doorway was inserted directly in front of it. The roof was also replaced and
therefore it is impossible to work out the historic development of the place in any
detail. Nevertheless it seems likely that it began as some form of open hall house,
probably heated by an open hearth fire. The cob hall stack looks like a late C16-
early C17 insertion. The hall was floored about the same time or a little later.
House now 2 storeys.
Exterior: irregular 4-window front of C20 casements without glazing bars. Passage
front doorway is right of centre and now contains a C20 part-glazed door and there
is another similar door further left. Roof is gable-ended. The left (parlour)
gable-end stack includes a stone plaque inscribed WH 1796 although nothing from that
date appears in the house. Alongside is a tiny window which formerly served a
staircase or chamber closet.
Interior: the large parlour originally had a 3-bay ceiling carried on C17
crossbeams with deep soffit-chamfers with step stops. The fireplace here is blocked
by a C20 fireplace. Cob crosswall between parlour and hall. The hall fireplace was
reduced in depth in the C19 but still has its oak lintel supported on posts with a
chamfered surround. The ceiling is 8 panels of richly-moulded intersecting beams.
Joinery detail throughout is C20.

Listing NGR: ST0747814937

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26611423

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

• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas