Description

STOKE FLEMING ASH
SX84NW Lower Ash Farmhouse
5/142
II

Farmhouse. Circa mid C17 with C18 alterations and remodelled in circa
early to mid C19. The adjacent farm building to the south east has a plaque
inscribed "R. Leach rebuilt 1839" which is probably the date of the remode-
lling of the house and the improvement of the farm. Rendered stone rubble.
Slate roof with hipped lower left end and gabled higher right end. Axial
stack to left of centre and gable end stack to right, both with rendered
shafts.
Plan: The original house had a 3-room and through or cross-passage plan and
faced north-east, the lower end to the left (south east). The hall is
heated from an axial stack backing onto the cross-passage and the large
inner room-parlour at the right end has a gable end stack.
The house underwent some C18 alterations but the substantial remodelling is
C19 and probably circa 1839, the date inscribed on the adjacent farm build-
ing. The lower end was entirely rebuilt and made deeper in plan to accommo-
date a cider-house at the front with a loft above and at the back a kitchen
with a rear lateral stack and a doorway at its lower left end through a
large lean-to porch. The new front wall of the lower end was built forward
of the original front as was the front wall of the parlour-inner room.
Consequently the centre of the house is recessed. Behind the parlour a one-
room plan wing was added with a straight staircase between, rising from the
hall. The wing now contains a dairy on the ground floor with a chamber
above. There have been virtually no alterations to the house since the
C19.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical north east front. The left and right
hand ends of front project and the eaves are carried over the recessed
centre which is blind. The right hand projection has 3 circa early C20 2-
light casements on the first floor and 2 circa early C20 3-light casements
on the ground floor. The projecting lower left end has the cross-passage
front doorway recessed to the right with an early to mid C19 flush panel
door, the top 3 panels glazed and a C19 ornate wrought iron gate in front.
To the left of the doorway a flight of stone steps against the front wall up
to a loft doorway which has a C19 plank door and a slate canopy. Under the
steps is a dog-kennel.
The south west rear elevation is also asymmetrical. To the left a project-
ing hipped roof wing at the back of the higher end. The lower right hand
end also projects at the rear but not as much and has 2 C19 rendered brick
chimney shafts over the rear wall. The recessed centre is the back wall of
the original house and has late C19 2-light casement on the ground floor
with a small window opening above. The other windows at the back are late
C19 or early C20 2 and 3-light casements.
Interior: The hall has a cross-beam with cyma and beed moulding and one
surviving fluted convex stop and a chamfered half-beam at the lower end over
the fireplace in which a C20 fireplace has been inserted. The inner room
was not inspected nor was the room behind in the rear wing but it is said to
have been the dairy with slate slab shelves around the walls. There is a
C19 straight staircase rising from the hall between the two rooms. The
kitchen at the rear of the lower end has a large C19 fireplace. On the
first floor there are several circa late C17 plank doors with wrought iron
hinges and C18 2-panel doors. The rest of the joinery in the house is circa
early Cl9 and possibly 1839 the date of the putative remodelling.
Roof over the lower end has C19 sawn king-post trusses. The roof space over
the higher end was not inspected but the straight feet of the principal
rafters are exposed in the first floor rooms and the joints are said to be
pegged.

Listing NGR: SX8367049682

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26610743

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

• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)