Description

CHAGFORD
SX 68 NE

3/60 The Old School House approximately
7 metres north-west of Yeo
23.12.86 Farmhouse
GV II*

Disused school house, originally a detached kitchen or bakehouse. Late C16-early
C17. Granite stone rubble laid to rough courses and with large dressed quoins;
disused granite stack; corrugated iron roof (formerly thatch).
Plan. Small single cell building facing south-south-west, say south. It has a
large stack at the left (western) end with the remains of an associated curing
chamber to rear and the site of a winder stair towards the front rising over the top
of a large side oven. Secondary woodshed on left end. Main block is 2 storeys.
Exterior. Front has a doorway a little right of centre; its lintel and jambs made
up of large slabs of dressed granite. Secondary porch in front has partly collapsed
and lost its monopitch roof. It has rubble walls with stone benches along the
inside. To right there is a stone window each floor. Both were 2 lights but are now
missing their central mullions. To left of the doorway is a tiny slit window,
provided to light the stair. A large millstone leans against the wall below. Roof
is gable-ended. Rear wall has a 2-window front of blocked single light windows to
the ground floor and a small C19 fixed pane window with glazing bars to the frist
floor. The curing chamber has a slit window in each outer wall.
Interior. The roof structure was replaced in the late C19-early C20 but otherwise
the original interior is well-preserved, if somewhat dilapidated. The crossbeam is
soffit-chamfered with worn step stops. The large granite fireplace has a soffit-
chamfered oak lintel. On the left side a segmental-headed doorway leads to a large
stone-lined oven under the site of the winder stair. On the right side of the
fireplace there is an archway through the cheek at hearth level through to the curing
chamber the other side. It is now blocked. In the curing chamber this archway shows
below a stone shelf. High above there is a plastered niche in the side of the stack
which is thought to be where smoke from the curing chamber could join the main five.
The Old School House is both attractive and most important. The fireplace with its
associated oven and curing chamber show that this was a working building, a detached
kitchen or bakehouse with accommodation or storage space above. Purpose-built
buildings of this size and date are of national importance when they are this well-
preserved. Great care should be taken to preserve the buildings integrity during any
renovation work here.
Furthermore it is one of a fine group of associated farm and mill buildings which
include the farmhouse (q.v.)., the office and garden railings (q.v.), mill (q.v.),
smithy (kq.v.) and barn (q.v.). In the C19 the road was diverted south of the farm
but before that used to run through the farmyard and therefore the Old School House
would have fronted onto the road. The farm has been in the hands of the Perryman
family since circa 1450.
Source: E Mercer. English Vernacular Houses (1975) Fig. 22, p.148.

Listing NGR: SX7027987950

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17537560

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

• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper