Description

ST NEOT SX 17 SE 4/111 Mennabroom Farmhouse - 27.8.52 GV II

Farmhouse. Late C16 - early C17; extended in mid C17, with later additions and some C20 alterations. Granite rubble with granite dressings. Bitumenised slate roof with ridge tiles and gable ends; gable end stack to left, now in axial position, with rubble shaft, slate cornice and shaped top; rear lateral stack in rubble with shaped top. Plan: The house was originally a 3 room and through passage plan; lower end room (demolished) to right, with passage, hall to left heated by rear lateral stack and inner room to end left, heated by gable end stack. If there were an early stair, its position is no longer clear. In the mid C17, the front of the house was extended; the passage was extended forwards, and a stair tower added to the front of the hall; this created a small unheated pantry/dairy under the stair, with access from the passage. To the left of the stair tower the hall was also extended with a hall bay. This front addition extends to the front of the inner room, with a single storey porch, as a lean-to; this has a door to the side and gives access directly into the extended hall bay. Probably in the late C18 or early C19, a stable with loft over was added to the left end; this has always been unheated. Probably later in the C19 or early C20, a lean-to of single storey was added to the front of the stable adjoining the mid C17 porch lean-to. The date of the demolition of the lower end is uncertain; the stable was only converted as a kitchen in mid C20, and there is no evidence of C19 use of the hall fireplace for cooking; the passage is said to have been used as a kitchen. The lower end was probably demolished in mid-late C19, with some rebuilding of the lower end wall. Exterior: 2 storeys, asymmetrical 4-window front; all windows except the hall bay window are C20 casements. The passage doorway is to end right; a chamfered granite lintel survives, and roughly hewn granite jambs, with 2-light casement inserted; 2- light casement above at first floor. To the left are 2 staggered single lights with granite lintels; the lower 1 to right lights the pantry, and the upper 1 the stair tower. To the left, the hall bay has a small gable over the first floor;at ground floor there is a 2-light chamfered granite casement with hoodmould, 2-light casement above. To the left is the porch lean-to, with door and C20 window; above this at first floor, the wall steps back to the original line, and there is a 2-light casement with small gable over, lighting the chamber over the inner room. The straight joint to the stable is concealed by the lean-to, which has a wide C20 window to left and corrugated plastic roof; inside the lean-to there is a 2-light casement and door. The right gable end is partly rendered at the upper level; 2-light casement at ground floor and 3-light casement at first floor. The left end is built into the bank, with a C20 window in the gable end, formerly a loading door for the stable loft. At the rear, the passage doorway is to left; this is in granite, with inner segmental chamfered arch, flat granite lintel above and buttress to right and left; the buttresses would have been added at the time the lower end was demolished. To the right is the rear lateral stack of the hall, with 2-light casement at ground and first floor to right of the stack. The rear of the inner room has a large 2- light casement at ground floor. Straight joint to right to the stable, with 2 C20 windows. Interior: The passage has a slate floor; the end of the passage which has not been extended is at a higher ceiling level, with roughly hewn cross beams; granite monolith to 1 side supporting the rear lateral stack. The front of the passage is extended for the dairy/pantry; the doorway to this has a granite lintel and jamb, dairy has slate floor and shelves; granite lintel in wall between the dairy and the hall. To the left of the passage is a granite segmental-arched doorway to the hall, chamfered, with pintles remaining on the inner side. The hall has a granite fireplace, with heavy chamfered flat lintel and roughly hewn jambs; there may be a niche to right, blocked. Ceiling beams replaced in C20, except 1 cambered and chamfered beam across the step up to the extended hall bay. The window of the hall bay is chamfered on the inside, with pintles for shutters; slate floor. Stair tower has stone newel stair around an S-bend. 4 steps up and a C19 4-panelled door to the inner room, ceiled, with end fireplace rebuilt in C20. At first floor, there is a small unheated chamber over the dairy and front passage. Hall chamber partitioned in C20. The roof over the inner room is visible at first floor, with C19 principal rafters and 1 row of trenched purlins. The hall roof is of 3 bays, 2 trusses remaining, not chamfered, with principal rafters halved and pegged at the apex, 1 row of trenched prulins, very cambered collars pegged to the faces of the principal rafters with 3 pegs. Source: Mercer, E: English Vernacular Houses (45) p. 144

Listing NGR: SX1630270567

External Links

• Wikidata Q26614491

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Recommended Books

• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)