Description

SUTTON MADDOCK

823/0/10105 Brockton Court
21-FEB-07

II
A detached house dating from 1678, with additions in the early C19, mid C19, and C20.

MATERIALS: The original range is a two storey, two bay brick structure with ashlar quoins and an external brick stack which was extended northwards by a single brick bay with an end stack in the early C19. Together these form the entrance range which has a hipped roof of clay tiles. The range of c.1834 to the south west is also of brick. The windows are mostly sashes with glazing bars and have painted stone flat-arched lintels and cills.
PLAN: Multi-phase, irregularly shaped plan. Two storeys with cellar and attic.

EXTERIOR: The north east entrance front consists of a tall projecting brick stack to the right of which is a pedimented entrance porch with Tuscan columns. A vertical joint with large ashlar quoins to the right of the porch marks the northern extent of the C17 building. To the right, at ground level is a canted bay window with stone mullions, whilst at first floor are two eight over eight sash windows with flat-arched lintels and a four over eight sash above the bay. There are also two C20 roof lights. The window immediately to the right of the stack is a modern insertion. The south west elevation consists of a single bay, which forms the south wall of the C17 building, set under a hipped roof, and three bays of the mid C19 addition also under a hipped roof. Further west, set back and at right angles to this elevation, is the former rear service wing which occupies two bays. The two C17 bays each have a sash window to the ground floor. There is a single C17 boxed sash with brick eared architrave and cill to the first floor. Below this window, inset into the brickwork, is a carved stone plaque bearing the inscription '1678 WFE'[The central F is slightly raised and perhaps records members of the Farmer family. The mid C19 addition comprises, from right to left, a canted bay with chamfered sandstone mullions and a sash window to ground floor, and three sashes to first floor. On the return elevation is a pair of French doors beneath a painted stone flat-arched lintel. The former service range has a pitched tile roof with a tall external stack in its west gable end. The south east elevation has no openings, and the rear contains C20 casements. A flat-roofed extension and conservatory both of C20 date have been added to the rear (north west) and are not of special interest.

INTERIOR: The earlier part of the house retains some C17 features of note, including exposed chamfered ceiling beams with stepped stops; a staircase between ground floor and first with splat balusters, although the newel post pendants have been replaced, and a straight staircase between first floor and attic, with splat balusters and square newel posts with chamfered pendants. Most of the other internal features date from the Late Regency period, namely chimney pieces, six panelled doors, doorcases, moulded cornices and panelled shutters to some ground floor windows. In the roof to the entrance range, the trusses are formed from principal rafters with single trenched purlins. It is probably early C19. The roof structure in the mid C19 addition is an A-frame construction with trusses and two rows of purlins.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: To the south west is a C19 brick-built stables and carriage house that has group value with the house. It has a pitched clay tile roof with a brick stack towards the east end. Both gable ends have stepped brick copings and perches of projecting bricks, whilst the entrance front has two double doored entrances. The interior was not inspected.

HISTORY: Brockton Court is a large detached farmhouse set within landscaped grounds. For more than 250 years it was owned by the Farmer family who lived there until 1834 when they emigrated to Canada. Documentary sources indicate that the house stands on a site which has been occupied since at least 1574; the first structure was a timber-framed building that is shown on a C19 illustration and was demolished in 1834. The present house comprises three main phases of construction. The entrance range is dated 1678, to which a two storey, single bay was added in the early C19. Finally, a wing was added to the south west side, approximately on the site of the demolished timber-framed building, in c.1834. Sources indicate that part of Brockton Court was once used as a court house.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: Brockton Court is an important house with three principal construction phases; 1678, early C19 and c.1834 when it was refashioned. The plan form remains largely intact and decorative detail includes externally the eared architrave to a first floor window in the C17 part of the house, the pedimented entrance porch, and internally two surviving C17 staircases, and doors, architrave and cornices dating from the Late Regency period. This house is clearly of special interest in terms of the substantially intact fabric, plan form, survival of internal fittings, and its overall architectural quality.

SOURCES: D.H. Robinson, The Wandering Worfe (1982); Connie Dakin, Five Shropshire villages Where the Name's the Same - Brockton (1974) Shropshire Magazine.

Listing NGR: SJ7163703324

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26671495

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)
• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)