Brockweir Inn, Hewelsfield and Brockweir, Gloucestershire

Summary

A building of early C16 date (dendro dating of the roof and some floor timbers), refronted in the late C17/ early C18 and latterly an inn.

Description

Public house built in the early C16, re-fronted as a house in the late C17, and an inn from the late C18, with C19 rear service range and C20/21 alterations.

MATERIALS: constructed of local rubble stone with stone quoins and arches to the façade openings. The roof and floor structures are of oak with oak and pine repairs and replacements. The roofs are covered in clay pantiles and there are C21 brick stacks.

PLAN: of four bays and of two storeys plus attic and basement. There is a central stairwell to all floors with pub rooms to each side and servery area to the rear. To the rear right is a widened opening to a modern link (not of special interest) and two-storey service range.

EXTERIOR: the symmetrical five-bay façade has a central door with C21 projecting timber porch. A pedimented gable above has a modern casement with a stone plaque above. The openings all have flat arches of stone voussoirs. The flank walls each have an attic window. The rear elevation has a door and window with C20/21 additions to each side (not of special interest) and four openings to the first floor. The pitched roof has a central gable to the road and there are end stacks.

INTERIOR: the restored timber-framed stairwell has a C21 softwood staircase. The rooms to each side have an inglenook fireplace with bressumer to the rubblestone end walls. The stonework is not engaged with the front and back walls. The former ceiling beam incorporated in the inglenook to the right room has been replaced with an iron rail and timber infill. The other beams to the ground floor have stop chamfers (most diagonally cut, but one has a flat step stop) with some repair and replacement to the ends, and one is an historic reused jowled post, and is propped. Some of the joists are C21 replacements, notably where they adjoin the restored stairwell. The wide opening to the backwall right has a concrete lintel and there is a small sealed opening with an oak lintel to the right. To the left is an area of wall infilled with concrete block. To the far left of the back wall is a door and an oak lintel to an alcove to the right of the fireplace in the flank wall.

The first floor has fireplaces to each end, both offset within the chimneybreast. Concealed behind the chimneybreast is a splayed window opening in the east end wall. The ceiling beams are chamfer-stopped and form the tie beams to the trusses above, and one is a C21 replacement. The oak joists are C21 replacements.

To the attic floor are five pegged oak trusses, two rows of purlins, common rafters and a diagonally set ridge piece. Trusses 1 and 5 are almost flush with the stonework of the end walls. Some of the purlins have been reset and the collars to the inner trusses have been removed. Truss 3 has been adapted to form the gable to the road front. There are Roman numeral assembly marks to trusses 2-5. The floor level has been lowered as part of the 2020 works. The basement has a concrete floor.

REAR SERVICE RANGE
The rear two-storey service range has ground-floor doors to each end and a first-floor loading door to the north-west end. Principal openings have metal frames under pine lintels, but one to the south wall has an historic oak lintel. The ground floor has fireplaces to each end. The first floor has an exposed pine king-post roof structure of mid-C19 date with iron bolts and straps, and shipping marks. The first-floor structure, roof and some openings in the service range have been restored or adapted in pine, with concrete blocks inserted to the eaves.

History

The village of Brockweir was a collection of houses by the River Wye in the C13, and by the early C16 had grown into an established settlement that included a grange to Tintern Abbey. Malt House (LE: 1186590, Grade II*), which includes Monks Hall, is thought to have been part of the former abbey grange buildings and it is possible that Brockweir Inn across the lane had an associated use when first built, such as for storage. The Brockweir Inn roof and floor structures have given tree-ring samples dated to 1518/19, providing a strong indication that the building was constructed soon after 1519 using locally sourced timber. The original use may not have been domestic as there is no smoke blackening to the roof structure, which is an indication that the building was originally unheated.

Later encased in stone in separate phases, and with later inserted chimneys to each gable end, the building has a symmetrical façade that stylistically belongs to the late C17 or early C18 and it was likely in domestic use by this time. The former staircase and cross-mullioned windows to the building (all removed by 2020) also belonged to this period. The restored timber-framed stairwell may also be of this phase. By 1793 the building was in use as The George Inn (renamed the New Inn by 1840) and further alterations were made to the building such as the insertion of a gable to the front and the rendering of the façade. A projecting porch to the façade and an attached rear range are shown on the 1840s tithe map. By the 1886 Ordnance Survey map, the rear service range is shown as a detached structure and was probably rebuilt as a kitchen with store above. The map also shows a small structure attached to the south-east corner of the building. The inn underwent further additions and alterations in the mid-late C20 and was renamed The Brockweir Inn in the later C20. In 2020/21 the building was comprehensively restored with the insertion of a new stair, the restoration and replacement of some floor structure, the removal of exterior render and with other extensive repairs and alterations.

Reasons for Listing

Brockweir Inn, Gloucestershire is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as an early C16 vernacular building this is an early survival, which probably served as a dwelling by the C17 and an inn from the C18, and retains a high proportion of historic fabric;
* it is well-constructed with an evolved planform that retains evidence of its changing uses and well-crafted features such as a timber-framed stairwell and dressed stone voussoirs to the polite late C17/early C18 façade;
* despite the considerable alterations and adaptations over its history the building retains a substantial proportion of its early fabric in a legible arrangement.

Group value:

* with the other listed buildings in Brockweir including Malt House (Grade II*) which has probable historic associations with nearby Tintern Abbey.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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