Description

ASHTON
SX 88 SW
5/8 Rydon Farmhouse
II*
Former farmhouse. Early C16 origins, remodelled in the circa early/mid C17.
Whitewashed rendered cob on stone rubble footings with exposed stone quoins, first
floor of stair wing said to be of stud and plaster infill construction; thatched
roof, gabled at ends, hipped at end of front wing, gabled at end of stair wing; left
end stack with rendered shaft, axial stack with granite shaft, right end stack with
rendered shaft and bread oven.
Plan: In origin a late medieval open hall. 3 rooms wide, lower end to the left, with
evidence of 2 open hearths. Both the lower end and inner room were floored before
the hall, and jettied into it, the lower end room functioning as a parlour, the inner
room as a kitchen. The hall was floored later with a stack inserted backing on to
the passage and, presumably at the same time a rear stair was built in a wing opening
off the hall, the winder stair rising to a small first floor landing. A front right
wing, at right angles to the inner room may be a later, possibly C18 service wing or
may have functioned as a farmbuilding. C18 or C19 rear lean-to to lower end room,
formerly used as dairy but converted to domestic use in the late C20.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 2 window front with the front door to the through
passage to left of centre; to the right of the door an C18 or C19 3-light timber
small pane casement lights the hall; 2 first floor 2-light C20 timber casements. The
front right wing has a separate entrance on the front at the left and 1 first floor
and 1 ground floor 3-light C20 timber casement with glazing bars.
Interior: Very complete with high quality carpentry details. Plank and muntin screen
between passage and lower end room to the left, short section of plank and muntin
screen between passage and hall, the remainder of this wall occupied by the hall
stack. The lower end room has 2 ovolo-moulded cross beams, one partly dressed-off,
scratch-moulded joists and exposed first floor floorboards. The open fireplace has
granite jambs, triangular on plan, and the remains of an ovolo-moulded timber lintel
behind a replacement lintel. A chamfered doorframe on the rear wall probably marks
the position of a former stair, subsequently removed, possibly when the dairy was
added. The hall has a good open fireplace with chamfered granite jambs with pyramid
stops, a moulded timber lintel and bread oven. A moulded doorframe in the rear wall
gives access to the winder stair. The higher end hall partition is a plank and
muntin screen with pyramid stopped muntins; chamfered jetty beams indicate internal
jetties at both ends of the hall. The inner room has a plain cross beam and open
fireplace with a chamfered lintel with one step stop and a bread oven, the right hand
jamb has been partly rebuilt. The first floor has 2 C17 doors and doorframes leading
off the stair landing.
Roof: Sooted rafters survive the entire length of the main range, with one section
of sooted thatch intact. 3 smoke-blackened main trusses ; probably jointed crucks,
with mortised collars, a diagonally-set threaded ridge and trenched purlins. The
rafters rest outside the purlins and are pegged on to the outer faces of the ridge.
A closed truss above the lower end jetty is sooted on both sides, indicating 2 open
hearths although it is not clear how this arrangement could have worked. There is no
medieval truss over the lower end but a clean, probably C17 truss presumably added to
give extra support to the sooted ridge and rafters. Circa late C16 clean truss over
rear wing with a mortised collar.

Listing NGR: SX8456882868

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17536028

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

• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)