Higher Thornham Farmhouse And Attached Farmbuildings

Description

This information is taken from the statutory List as it was in 2001 and may not be up to date.

ROMANSLEIGH SS 71 NW 3/44 Higher Thornham Farmhouse and attached farmbuildings 20.2.67 - II* Farmhouse. Circa early C16, remodelled in circa early to mid C17, and some minor C19 alteration. Rubble and cob, rendered and colourwashed, straw-thatched gabled roof, 2 stacks with brick shafts.

Plan: 3-room and through-passage plan, the lower end to left is an alteration to a farmbuilding. At least the hall and inner room of the original house were probably open to the roof. In the early/mid C17 the house was substantially remodelled; an axial stack was built at the lower end of the hall backing onto the passage; floors were inserted in hall and inner room, and the front wall of the higher end of the hall and the front wall of the inner room were rebuilt forward of the original front creating a hall-bay and a high-quality parlour with a gable and stack. Alternatively the rebuilding forward of this wall may be a later alteration. The hall functioned as a kitchen and has access to the chambers above via a stair-turret added at the back in early to mid C17. Probably at the same time in the C17 the lower end seems to have been reduced to a farmbuilding, although it may originally have been a farmbuilding. Another farmbuilding with a loft above was added at the higher right and probably C18. In the C19 the inner room was partitioned axially to provide a dairy at the back and therefore reducing the size of the parlour at the front.

Interior: retains much of interest. Through-passage with a flagstone floor. The higher side of the passage with a doorway with a moulded head beam to former screen; just inside the doorway into the hall a chamfered half-beam. Hall fireplace backing onto the through-passage with a chamfered timber lintol, C19 mantle set over oven.

Hall with a chamfered cross-beam with fluted cyma stops and scratch-moulded joists.

Tudor arch ovolo-moulded doorframe to stair-turret. Pair of chamfered doorframes with cranked heads at top of stairs to first floor chambers. Plank and muntin screen dividing hall from parlour which was itself later divided into 2 rooms.

Parlour with moulded cross beam and half-beams around the walls with 2 rolls, and cyma moulds, and scratch-moulded joists. Parlour fireplace blocked and a good C19 cast-iron grate inserted. First floor divided into 2 large rooms.

Exterior: 2 storeys, 3-window frontage, late C19 2 and 3-light casements with horizontal glazing bars. Door opening to left with plank door.

Roof: the roof space is inaccessible, but the feet of a raised cruck truss are visible in the chamber over the hall, on the higher side of the inserted hall stack.

This is a high quality early to mid C17 remodelling of what must have been an open hall house. The internal carpentry is particularly good and the house has been virtually unaltered since the C19.

Listing NGR: SS7360818213

Content

This is part of the Series: IOE01/0618 IOE Records taken by Robin Downes; within the Collection: IOE01 Images Of England

Rights

© Mr Robin Downes. Source: Historic England Archive

This photograph was taken for the Images of England project