Description

SY 08 NE NEWTON POPPLEFORD STATION ROAD,
AND HARPFORD Newton Poppleford
5/85 The Old Bakery (formerly listed
11.11.52 under cottages adjoining the
Shieling)
GV II*

House in part of a larger original house. Early C16 with major C17 improvements;
the original house probably divided up in the late C18-early C19. Plastered cob on
stone rubble footings, part of rear wall faced with late C17-early C18 brick; stone
or cob stacks topped with C19 and C20 brick; thatch roof.
The house is set back from the road and raised above it. It faces north. It
occupies the hall, passage and service end room of the original 3- or 4-room-and-
through-passage plan house. The 2 rooms of the inner room end on the right
(western) side has been divided off and is now occupied by Ham Cottage (q.v.). The
passage has now been blocked to the rear and there is now only a small entrance
lobby. The present kitchen occupies the rear of the passage and extends into the
service end room. The service end room at the left (eastern) end was rebuilt in the
late C17 with a rear lateral stack. The hall has a prominent projecting front
lateral stack and the window bay of the hall immediately to right is brought forward
flush with the front of the stack as an oriel. 2 storeys.
Irregular 3-window front of late C19-early C20 casements with glazing bars including
a small bay window projecting square with monopitch roof left of centre. Between
the bay window and the hall stack is the front passage doorway containing a C20
part-glazed door. The hall stack has an ashlar chimney shaft with weathered offsets
and was extended with C19 brick. Just below the chimney shaft there is a moulded
plaster plaque comprising a simple lozenge-shaped frame surmounted by a fleur-de-lys
motif. It is uninscribed and probably C17 in date. The left end of the roof is
hipped and to right it is continuous with that of the adjoining Ham Cottage (q.v).
Interior. The hall is the oldest part dating from the early C16. A small part of
the passage-hall plank-and-muntin screen is exposed on the reverse hall side where
the muntins are not chamfered. At the front end is an internal window containing
rectangular panes of thin and ancient leaded glass. The lower passage screen, or
what is left of it, is plastered over. It is, however, a full height crosswall and
the framing closing the truss can be seen in the roofspace. At the apex a small
collar holds the tops of the principals either side of the diagonally set ridge
(A.lcock's apex type L1). Only the service side roofspace is accessible but soot
seems to have filtered through from the hall side indicating that the hall was open
to the roof which was smoke-blackened from an open hearth fire. To the rear of the
hall are late C17 oak 3-light windows frames on each floor, both with flat-faced
mullions. The top one has leaded glass. The hall roof is 2 bays and apparently
intact although the open truss is completely boxed in by a C20 partition. The upper
end closed truss is exposed on the Ham Cottage side. It is a face-pegged jointed
cruck. The hall has a large stone fireplace with a soffit-chamfered oak lintel. It
was probably built in the late C16-early C17. There is a tiny fire window on the
right side and a similar tiny light in the outer edge of oriel bay. The hall was
floored in the mid C17 with an axial beam with a broad soffit chamfer and double-bar
scroll stops. The service end was rebuilt in the late Cl7-early C18. It has a
reused rougiily-finished axial beam and the fireplace lintel is similarly finished.
The rough roof truss is an A-frame with a pegged lap-jointed collar.
This is a part of a high quality late Medieval house and forms an attractive group
with Ham Cottage (q.v.) and the Sheiling (q.v.).

Listing NGR: SY0877289738

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17547336

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

• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)