Details
A C17 farmhouse, altered and extended in the early to mid-C19, including late-C20 and early-C21 alterations.
MATERIALS: the main range and two extensions are built of coursed limestone rubble with uneven dressed-stone quoins, and stone window surrounds. The chimney stack in the south gable end of the C17 main range is rendered; that in the gable end of the southern C19 extension is dressed-stone; that in the northern C19 extension is brick. The pitched roof is covered with late-C20 Bradstone reconstituted stone tiles. The single-storey E-W range, probably dating from the late C19, is constructed of red brick, with a tiled roof.
PLAN: a late-C17 main range of three bays and two storeys, including the presence of a window with late-C16 characteristics, which may be the only surviving feature of an earlier phase. The main range is now a single room on the ground floor, but was probably originally a two-room plan. In the early to mid-C19, a two-storey extension was added to the south of the main range, and a single-storey extension was added to the north of the main range. The adjoining E-W late-C19 range is believed to have been a piggery.
EXTERIOR: the entrance in the west elevation of the main range is positioned to the right of centre. It has a dressed-stone surround, a stone hood on brackets, and a C19 four-panelled door. It is flanked by two windows on either side, one to each floor. All the windows have stone surrounds and mullions except for one which has a timber surround. One of the stone-mullioned windows has a hood-mould. The east elevation of the main range has six windows (three to each floor) all with stone surrounds and mullions, and a continuous stone string course above the ground floor windows. The majority of the current windows appear to date to the C19 and are mostly 8-pane casements, many of which have fixed sashes. The east elevation of the main range shows evidence of a blocked doorway with a timber lintel. The west elevation of the single-bay south extension has a 16-pane sash window with flat dressed-stone surround to each of the ground and first storeys. The east elevation of the south extension has an original 16-pane sash window with flat dressed-stone surround to the first storey. The south gable end is blind. The north extension has a UPVC window in its west elevation. Rubble infill shows this was formerly the location of a door. The north façade of the north extension has a C20 large wooden-framed 32-pane window, probably replacing an earlier, smaller window. The brick E-W range has wooden casement windows of late-C19 date to the south, and a late-C20 wooden 4-pane window inserted in the north elevation. There are three late-C20 dormers in the east and west sides of the main range's roof, all of which have side-hung 16-pane windows.
INTERIOR: it is believed that the roof timbers of the C17 main range were replaced in the 1990s when the loft was converted. They now all appear to be of late-C20 date. The roof timbers of the early- to mid-C19 south extension timbers have also been replaced. The ground floor room of the main range has an open fireplace and bread oven at its south end. This is contained within a slim brick stack, suggesting a late-C18 or even early-C19 date. The bressumer is contemporary with the stack. The ceiling has a longitudinal chamfered beam with a run-out stop at its south end where it meets the fireplace, suggesting that the ceiling is contemporary with the late-C18 or early-C19 stack. There is a lobby, built of thin timbers with brick infill, relating to the entrance in the west elevation. In the C19 south extension the sash window has shutters, and there is an original chimney breast now partially covered by the late-C20 addition of a stone-built, low-level fireplace. In the 1990s, access to an en-suite bathroom for the bedroom located in the first storey of the C19 south extension was created by cutting through the C17 south gable end.
HISTORY: Dunkirk Farmhouse is situated in the highland area of Wiltshire, not far from Trowbridge, between Southwick and Rode, on the Frome Road. The area is predominatedly rural and by the C16 was characterised by dairy farming and grazing. Historic mapping and the current disposition of farmhouses in the landscape indicate that the area is defined by a series of smallholdings in a pattern of non-nucleated settlement. In the 1990s the loft to Dunkirk Farmhouse was converted, dormers introduced, and the roof covering replaced. To its east are three further adjoining ranges of former agricultural outbuildings which historic Ordnance Survey mapping shows included an open-fronted store. These have been converted and now comprise a separately owned dwelling, but their relationship to the farmhouse shows that they defined the northern side of a yard to the east of the farmhouse. All the current elements of Dunkirk Farmhouse are visible on the Ordnance Survey map published in 1887. The OS map published in 1924 shows an additional open-fronted outbuilding to the south of the yard, but this has since been removed. The holding appears on the historic OS maps as Dunkirt Farm, suggesting that the name Dunkirk Farm was adopted later: possibly following the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940.
SOURCES
Slocombe, PM, Wiltshire Farmhouses & Cottages 1500-1850, (1988), 12
Ordnance Survey maps published in 1887, 1901, 1924
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
Dunkirk Farmhouse, Frome Road (N), Southwick is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Intactness: the building survives substantially intact.
* Architectural interest: the building is a good example of a C17 Wiltshire farmhouse, with good quality vernacular architectural detailing. Its plan is typical of local Wiltshire building customs, and its material contributes to regional distinctiveness.
* Historic interest: the building is an important physical reminder of historic agricultural development in Wiltshire from the C17 to C19.
