Description

MORETONHAMPSTEAD
SX 78 NE
2/78 Coombe Farmhouse (formery listed as
- Coombe Court Farmhouse)
23.8.55
GV II

Farmhouse. C17 or earlier with probably late C17, C18 and C19 additions. Granite
rubble walls, lightly rendered and roughcast in places. Thatched roof with gable
ends and 1 hip to left-hand wing. Gable, formerly axial, stack at front is
constructed of granite blocks with capping and drip-course below and dripmoulds at
base. Brick chimney to right-hand wing.
Complex plan and development. Originally 3-room-and-through-passage with hall
stack backing onto passage; at some stage the passage and lower end was demolished.
Circa late C17 unheated wing added at front of inner room. Probably C18 wing added
at rear of hall and the house turned around so that this became the front. C19
extension beyond this wing and the single storey outbuilding which was attached to
its far side incorporated in late C20 into accommodation.
2 storeys. The present asymmetrical 2-window front consists of the C18 wing with
the lower end of the hall to the left. C19 2-light casements with small panes.
Early C20 gabled porch at centre with windows and part-glazed door behind it and
window to the right. On the ground floor the left-hand section incorporates the
back of the hall stack, typically constructed of granite ashlar with chamfered
plinth. The left-hand side of the house is the original front and is irregular
with two 2-light C20 casements on the ground floor and 1 above to the left, all
with small panes. Wing projects from the left-hand side, has small 2-light late
C19/early C20 casements on first floor and C19 12-pane sash on the ground floor to
right of centre. C19 extension is set back from right gable end and beyond it
single storey outbuilding has been incorporated into the house.
Interior contains some C17 features. Hall fireplace has heavy timber lintel with
rough chamfer, monolithic granite jamb to left end and oven in right-hand side with
stone arched opening. ½-beam above fireplace with deep chamfer and bar and hollow
step stops. Identical central cross beam. At upper end of hall is plank and
muntin screen at present exposed only on the higher side where it is only roughly
worked. Inner room has central longitudinal beam with narrow chamfer. Above the
screen is stud partition, possibly contemporary.
This house retains an unspoilt facade with traditional windows and may well have a
medieval roof.

Listing NGR: SX7543187025

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26389492

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

• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)