Description

SO 81 SW HARESCOMBE HILL LANE
(east end)

5/119 Church Farmhouse

II

A detached house, dating largely from the C17, with C16 core. The house is built from squared and coursed limestone, with limestone ashlar chimneys, one part rebuilt in brick, and a plain clay tile roof. The building has two storeys and attic, and is L-shaped on plan, with a main range of lobby-entry type running north-south, and a cross wing running east-west to the north of the main range. There is a C19 lean-to extension in two phases to the south of the main range.

EXTERIOR: The main elevation has a gable to the left, with the main range of three bays with central entrance door under a deep hood mould. The stone mullioned windows to this range are of two-and three-lights, with hood moulds to the ground floor of the main range and first and attic floors of the gabled wing; there is a single fixed light to the ground floor lighting the winder stair in this wing. The rear elevation has an external stack to the gable end of the cross wing, and the main range has an offset entrance door. Fenestration is irregular, a mixture of one and two-light stone mullioned windows, with the ground floor and attic windows of the main range and cross wing having hood moulds. The northern elevation of the cross wing has three-light stone mullioned windows, those to the ground floor with hood moulds.

INTERIOR: The ground floor rooms in the main range have limestone flag floors, C20 fireplaces to the massive central stack, and exposed ceiling beams. The room to the south has a single ceiling beam with deep chamfers and stepped stops, and retains its stair alongside the stack. That to the north has lateral and transverse beams with deep chamfers, and C19 shutters and panelling to dado height. The lobby retains its original C17 plank and stud door and hinges. The cross wing has a winder stair, partly built into the external wall, at its junction with the main range; this extends upwards into the attic, giving access to rooms in both ranges. The rooms in the cross wing also have limestone floors, and are divided by plank and muntin partitions. The room to the east has a limestone fireplace with a shallow four-centred arched top. First floor rooms follow the same layout as the ground floor, with two rooms in the main range and one large room in the cross wing; these rooms all have exposed chamfered ceiling beams and further plank and muntin screens dividing the two ranges and partitioning the space within the cross wing. The roof structure is of simple A-frames, with twin trenched purlins and collars. The attic in the cross wing is divided by a further plank and muntin screen.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: The house has a barn and cartshed or cattle shelter to its south, forming two sides of a farmyard. Although these buildings are not of special architectural interest, they do form a coherent group with the house.

HISTORY: Church Farmhouse appears to have been constructed in the C16 as a single-depth, two-roomed timber framed house, and either one or one-and-a-half storeys high, perhaps open to the roof. In the early-mid C17, the house was extended by the addition of a large, two-storey wing set at right-angles to the earlier range and running east-west. The external walls of the timber framed house appear to have been rebuilt in stone at this time, and raised to a full two storeys, and the whole structure re-roofed. The building was a relatively high status house at this time. In the mid-late C19 (post-1840) a single-storey, lean-to kitchen was added to the south of the original range, with a further extension to its east forming a wash-house. Otherwise the house has been little altered and this is probably due to its being lived in by tenant farmers until the late C20.

The farm buildings, comprising a barn and cartshed or cattle shelter, were present on the site by 1840.

SOURCES: Gloucestershire Buildings Recording Group : Notes on Church Farm, Haresfield, October 2003 (unpublished report).

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE:
All buildings dating from before 1840 which survive in close to their original condition are good candidates for designation. In order to meet the criteria for listing, vernacular buildings dating from before 1700 need to demonstrate good survival of their plan form, fabric, construction and a high level of intactness. Church Farm is a good example of a well preserved C16 and C17 Cotswold vernacular house, with a good quality interior, including a C17 stone fireplace to the ground floor and an impressive set of C17 plank and muntin partitions to the ground and first floors. Although there have been some later additions and alterations, Church Farm is a substantially intact building dating largely from the C17.

Listing NGR: SO8380910476

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26624778

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.

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