Summary

A dwelling of C17 origin retaining evidence of a former stair turret and other historic fabric of note including a window with ovolo mouldings.

Description

A dwelling of early-C17 origin, extended to the west in the mid-C19 and with a late-C19 outshut.

MATERIALS: constructed of rubble stone with double roman tile roof with brick stacks. The outshut is of rubble and brick with a modern roof.

PLAN: on an east/west orientation the building is a three-room plan with central stair. It was originally of two units, the west bay being a C19 addition. There is a former stair turret to the north-east corner. An outshut is at right angles to east end of the façade. A mid-late store, car port and garage are attached to the west end of the house.

EXTERIOR: of two storeys under a pitched roof, the elevations are painted rubble. The façade is of three irregular bays with a door to right of centre with a plain stone architrave and modern door. To its left is an early-C17 tripartite mullioned casement opening with ovolo mouldings and a hoodmould with labels. The other openings have stone architraves and timber casements, except to ground-floor right, which is uPVC. The outshut to the right has modern fenestration and roof coverings. The west flank of the house has a modern door and attached C20 store and garage. The rear has two small openings to the ground floor, one with a timber surround, and to the left is the bowed stair turret. The roof has coped verges with kneelers and three ridge stacks, and there are two modern rooflights to the rear slope.

INTERIOR: the ground floor is stone-flagged to the west (kitchen) and central rooms. The east room has a modern floor, an inglenook with C20 oak bressumer, and a former stair turret to the back wall with a small opening. The lateral ceiling beams to each room are covered over. The timber central stair is of C20 construction and a stair cupboard facing the centre room has iron hinges. The door to the kitchen is through the former end wall of the two-unit dwelling. The end wall incorporates a sealed chimney breast with part of the plaster cut away to expose the bressumer end. The kitchen has a fireplace with spalled stone surround in the west wall, and a timber, recessed shelving unit to the left, possibly with pre-C20 elements. To the first floor are four-panelled doors, a fitted cupboard and pine floorboards. The roof structures have been at least partially replaced in the later C20.

History

The house is a dwelling of early-C17 origin. A building is shown on the site on the 1840s tithe map for Shepton Mallet and appears to have been extended to the west by the time the area was surveyed for the Ordnance Survey Map of 1888. It is shown with an outshut to the right end of the façade on the 1903 Ordnance Survey edition. In the later C20 a concrete block store with attached single garage and car port were built on the west of the house, and alterations have been made to the building including the replacement of roof structure and some windows and doors, and the insertion of a central stair. The house has been refurbished in the early C21.

Reasons for Listing

24 Old Wells Road is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural and historic interest:

* as good surviving example of a C17 dwelling built in the vernacular traditions of the region: of rubble stone with a stair turret to the rear of the building and a surviving mullioned window with ovolo mouldings;
* the building retains other good architectural detailing, of C19 date or earlier, including stone-flag floors and some joinery including casements, which is illustrative of the evolution of the building through its history as traditional lifestyles have changed over time.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26468158

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

• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)