Finwood Hill and detached well house approximately 5m south-west

Summary

A brick and timber-framed house and detached well house. The house dates to about 1550, with alterations and additions dating to the late-sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Reasons for Designation

Finwood Hill and detached well house are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural Interest:

* as a well-preserved and high quality example of a vernacular timber-framed house dating to the C16;

* for the important survival of interior details, including queen post trusses and moulded stone fire surrounds to both the ground and first floors.

Historic Interest:

* the building retains a substantial amount of historic fabric dating from the C16 onwards, which clearly demonstrates its phasing and reflects its adaptation to the changing needs of its occupants over time.

Group Value:

* with the timber-framed well house within the grounds.

History

Finwood Hill is a timber framed house which dates to about 1550. It is located on a former area of common land at Finwood Green, which formed part of the hamlet settlement of Lowsonford, and later developed as a cottage settlement in the C16.

The south-east range was added later in the C16 and appears to have been extended around the C17, with the large stone chimneystack becoming internalised. The south-west elevations are thought to have been encased in brick in the C18.

The building is described on the 1848 Tithe map as a house, farm buildings, yard, garden and orchard owned by the Reverend Thomas Lea and occupied by Joseph Weetman Junior. At this time, the L-shaped building had an enclosed square yard to the south and long ranges of agricultural buildings to south-east. These appear to have been removed by 1925. A well within the enclosed yard is marked on the maps from 1887 onwards.

A newspaper article reveals that a Mr and Mrs Darby lived at Finwood Hill from the early 1930s until at least 1984. The building was advertised for auction in July 1992. Ordnance Survey maps show that between 1925 and 1970 a cottage extension was added to the north-west side of the building, along with the detached garage and stables (the cottage extension, garage and stables are not included in this List entry). Replacement of some of the windows and fireplaces, and the addition of secondary glazing and a porch to the south-west entrance, appears to have taken place in the later C20.

Details

A brick and timber-framed house and detached well house. The house dates to about 1550, with alterations and additions dating to the late-C16, C17 and C18.

MATERIALS: the house is constructed of timber-framing and brick, with a rubble stone plinth and a handmade plain-tile roof. The C20 cottage is of red brick. Windows are mostly single-glazed with leaded glass and metal furniture, some with internal secondary glazing.

PLAN: the house is L-shaped, composed of a cross-wing orientated north-east to south-west and a perpendicular range adjoining its south-east side, orientated north-west to south-east. A C20 cottage with a square plan is linked to the north-west side of the cross-wing.

EXTERIOR: two perpendicular ranges form the main house: a C16 three-bay cross-wing and a four-bay, late-C16 range. Both are of two storeys beneath pitched roofs, with the eaves and ridge of the later range being slightly higher than the cross-wing. Both ranges feature exposed timber framing to the north and east elevations and brick facing to the south and west elevations.

The principal elevation faces south-west. Both ranges are faced in brick laid in Flemish bond with a regular arrangement of three and four-light windows set within segmental arched heads to both floors. The later range features an off-centre plank door beneath a modern porch with brick pillars. The roof pitch above features a gabled dormer and two diagonal square stacks of thin bricks.

The north-west elevation of the cross-wing features square timber framing, partially covered by a brick lean-to, and linked to a C20 cottage extension through a single storey porch (not included in this List entry).

The north-east elevation is timber framed with an exposed queen-post truss to the cross-wing. The adjoining range features square framing with brick infill laid in basketweave to the first floor, underbuilt with brick on a coursed stone plinth. To the centre of this elevation is a planked timber door with two and three-light windows to either side. The leaded windows to the first floor are set into square openings of the frame. The south-east gabled elevation is faced in brick and features an external brick stack flanked by windows in segmental arches on both floors.

INTERIOR: The south-west entrance leads into the hall which has an open timbered ceiling featuring a heavy chamfered spine beam with scrolled stops and square joists. To the south side of the room is a large stone fireplace with a moulded, Tudor-arched opening. Within this are recessed niches either side of a modern wood burner below a metal canopy bearing the initials ‘B H D’. The staircase with splat balusters is likely a later insertion. The room to the south also features an open timbered ceiling, with a chamfered beam with stops, and a C20 brick fire surround.

The kitchen within the cross-wing has wide flat joists to the lower ceiling and a moulded beam with truncated cross-sections suggesting the location of two former cross-beams. The timber framing to the north-west wall is visible internally and there is an early-C20 servant’s bell board to the internal link to the cottage. The dining room is divided from the kitchen by a timber framed partition and features a chamfered ceiling beam and C20 brick surround. Some of the windows feature internal secondary glazing.

The first floor of the cross-wing has a middle truss with a cambered tie-beam on curved braces, and queenposts, and the roof has curved wind-braces to the purlins. The bedroom above the hall features a smaller stone fireplace with a moulded flat arch and niche. The coursed stone of the large internal stack is visible to the southernmost bedroom, which features exposed square framing to the east wall. There is a C20 fireplace and later, possibly applied, timber studwork to the south wall.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: approximately 5m south-west of the house is a small, timber framed well house with modern brick infill. It is square on plan with a pitched tiled, roof and weather boarded gables. Inside is a mechanised pump.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

308339

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Other
Tithe map and apportionments for Rowington Parish, Warwickshire, 1848.
Ordnance Survey map Warwickshire, 1:2500, 1887.
Ordnance Survey map Warwickshire, 1:2500, 1925.
Ordnance Survey map, SP1968, 1:2500, 1970.
HER entry for Finwood House, HER number: MWA9414, MWA9456, accessed 29 April 2025 from: https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?resourceID=1018
Victoria County History, ‘Parishes: Rowington', in A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 3, Barlichway Hundred, ed. Philip Styles, 1945, Accessed 29 April 2025 from: British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol3/pp146-154
‘Swinging Time’, Leamington Spa Courier, 14 December 1984, p22.
Sales particulars, Stratford-upon-Avon Herald, 10 July 1992, p16
Entry for Finwood House, Lowsonford, Rowington, accessed on 29 April 2025 from: https://timetrail.warwickshire.gov.uk/detail.aspx?monuid=WA9414#1

End of official list entry

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