Description

ASHTON
SX 88 SE
6/3 Coombe Farmhouse
22.7.87
II
Former farmhouse. Circa early C16 origins, remodelled in the circa early C17, 2 rear
wings probably late C17 or C18; 1970s or 80s extension and alterations. Whitewashed
rendered cob and stone; thatched roof with plain ridge, gabled at ends of main block,
hipped at end of rear right wing; rear left wing corrugated iron, gabled at end.
Axial stack and projecting truncated right end stack to main block, projecting end
stack to rear left wing.

Plan: In origin a 3 room and through passage late medieval open hall house, probably
open from end to end (lower end to the right) and floored in 2 phases: the lower end
first, jettying into the hall and providing a pair of ground floor service rooms with
a chamber over. The hall and inner room were floored later with the hall stack
inserted backing on to the passage; narrow, unheated inner room. A 1 room plan rear
wing, at right angles to the hall is probably a late C17 parlour and a large rear
right wing, at right angles to the lower end, was formerly a hay barn. The area
between these wings has been roofed over and extended by a C20 lean-to; C20 addition
at left end of main range. There are some oddities of detail: the carpentry of the
lower end is similar to the hall and the internal jetty may be integral with the open
hall (no access to roofspace over lower end at time of survey - 1986).
Exterior: 2 storeys. Long asymmetrical 1 plus 4 window front (1 window to C20
addition at the left end); eaves thatch eyebrowed over the 4 right hand windows.
Gabled thatched porch to through passage to right of centre, buttress at extreme
right. 2 and 3-light C19 small pane timber casements except ground floor left (in
new extension) which is C20. The right return consists of the gable end of the main
block and the former haybarn; small pane timber casements except ground floor left,
lighting lower end of main range which is a C17 timber ovolo-moulded mullioned
window, mullions replaced, frame intact. A 2-light chamfered timber mullioned
window, probably C17 has been re-sited in the C20 rear lean-to and originated in the
former hay barn.
Interior: Good survival of C16 and C17 carpentry. The cross passage has a square-
headed chamfered C17 rear doorframe and a fine plank and muntin screen to the lower
end with deeply chamfered scratch-moulded stopped muntins and 2 doorframes leading
into the 2 lower end service rooms: the front service room has scratch-moulded
joists. The hall chimney breast, backing on to the higher end wall of the passage
has a granite cornice. The hall/inner room partition has been removed in the 1970s
or 80s: the hall has a chamfered axial beam, scratch-moulded joists, a jetty with
moulded joists adjacent to the stack and an open fireplace with granite jambs, a
scroll-stopped lintel and a bread oven. A recess next to the stack contains a cream
oven, the recess has a timber lintel rebated for a door and may be a former stair
turret or walk-in curing chamber. The rear left wing is fairly plain with an open
fireplace with timber lintel.
Roof: An incomplete late medieval smoke-blackened roof of jointed cruck construction
survives over part of the hall and apparently extends over the lower end (access to
roofspace restricted). The medieval roof survives below a later roof and clearly
extended further over the hall and inner room (truncated ridge). The jointed crucks
are side-pegged and the principals morticed at the apex with a diagonally-set ridge,
some sooted rafters survive.
An evolved traditional house of late medieval origins,with many surviving features.

Listing NGR: SX8578384290

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26390075

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

• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings