Description

HILDENBOROUGH NIZELS LANE (west side) )
TQ 54 NW
4/173 Mansers Farmhouse

GV II

Former farmhouse. Circa early C17 or earlier with minor C19 and C20
additions. The early phase is of framed construction with brick nogging to
the ground floor, the first floor tile-hung; peg-tile roof; brick stack.

Plan and Development: The house faces east. The original plan was a single-
depth range, 3 rooms wide with a large room in the centre heated from an axial
stack at the left (south) end. The quality of the carpentry in this room
suggests a parlour/hall function rather than a kitchen, but neither of the
outer rooms are heated - perhaps the original kitchen was detached. The
service room to the south was originally very narrow and has been extended,
probably in the C19. The north service room is larger and has a probably C19
stack added at the north end. The present entrance is direct into the centre
room, at the north end but may originally have been into a lobby against the
axial stack. There is some evidence that the original stair rose against the
front (east) wall of the larger service room. C20 alterations include an
axial passage taken out of the centre room, against the rear wall with a rear
stair projection off the passage. A 1-room plan single-storey north west wing
was also added, at right angles to the main range. This was originally heated
(chimney shaft dismantled) and is said to have been used as separate
accommodation for a dairyman (information from owners). The roof of the house
was entirely reply ad in the late C19/C20.

Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 4-window front with a late C19 or C20
porch with a hipped roof to right of centre. Set of 2- and 3-light late C19
or C20 timber casements, 2-panes per light with paired casements lighting the
centre room and a 3-light C20 bay window to the extreme right. On the right
return there is a section of diagonally-laid brick to the infill, partly
obscured by the added projecting stack. The C20 rear wing has a lean-to roof.
Roof hipped at left end gabled at right end. Stack with staggered shafts with
corbelled brick cornices.

Interior: Rich in original carpentry, much of the framing, of large
scantling, exposed. The centre ground floor room has a C17 open fireplace
with chamfered stone jambs and a chamfered oak lintel. The longitudinal
ceiling beam and exposed joists are chamfered and stopped. The right hand
(north) room also has a chamfered, stopped crossbeam and exposed joists, but
of a rather plainer character. This room was used as a dairy within living
memory. A blocked doorway on the partition wall between the centre and right
hand rooms may have been a doorway to the original stair. The left (south)
service room retains evidence of the original end wall, which incorporated a
ground floor window with timber stanchions. It is not clear whether the
chamber over the centre room was heated originally: there is a recess in the
wall but redundant mortises suggest that the framed partition was originally
continuous. The wall framing has wall posts with roughly-dressed jowls and
has curved up and down braces, some have been removed.

Roof: A complete replacement of the late C19 or C20 with no evidence of an
earlier structure seen at time of survey (1988).
A traditional house of the region with a well-preserved interior. Group value
with Mansers (q.v.) opposite and to the east; Mansers was the original
farmyard to Mansers Farmhouse, the buildings converted to residential use in
the 1930s.

Listing NGR: TQ5467849570

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26644994

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

• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)