Description

DENHAM
TM 17 SE
4/31
Reading Hall
29.7.55
II
Former farmhouse. C16 hall range and early C17 2-cell cross-wing to right
forming T-shape plan. Timber framed and roughcast-rendered under a thatched
roof. 2 storeys and attics. Mid C20 casement windows without glazing bars.
Doorway placed in front gable end of cross-wing: mid C20 door and open porch
with wooden trelliswork. Heavy square stack at junction of the 2 ranges; to
north the shaft has an inset oblong panel with an upper sawtooth brick course,
probably once over a lobby entrance. Intact studding is visible in the upper
rooms, the wall braces in the hall range (and probably the cross-wing) halved
against the outside of the studs. Plain or slightly chamfered joists, all set
flat except for the cross-wing attic floor where they are placed on edge. A
ground floor open fireplace in the cross-wing has a semi-circular back. An
upper room in the cross-wing has some C17 ornamental plasterwork on the
chimneybreast: a central roundel containing foliage and a small foliage motif
to each side. Plasterwork in rear gable of cross-wing is painted with the
initials 'IR' and the date 1684 (or possibly 1634). Roof over hall range has
one row of clasped purlins and a little straight wind bracing: this roof seems
to be a C17 replacement.

Listing NGR: TM1940472882

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26476203

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

• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas