Durhams Farmhouse

Details

HILDENBOROUGH EGGPIE LANE (west side) TQ 54 NW 4/115 Durhams Farmhouse - II

Farmhouse. Probably late C16 in origin, smoke bay replaced by a chimney stack in the circa early/mid C17, circa late 1970s additions at either end. Framed construction, largely underbuilt in Flemish bond brick with blue headers on the ground floor, tile-hung to the first floor; peg-tile roof, brick stack.

Plan and Development: The house faces east. The original arrangement was a single depth plan, 3-rooms wide, the hall in the centre heated by a smoke bay, the lower end to the right (north) divided into 2 service rooms with an unheated room at the higher end. The position of the original stair is unclear, it array have risen to the rear (west) of the smoke bay. The stack, with back-to-back fireplaces serving the 2 higher end rooms was probably inserted in the early C17. Later alterations have involved the removal of the partition between the 2 lower end service rooms, 1-room plan additions at both ends of the main range and a rear left (south west) outshut.

Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 1:4 window east front, the left hand window to the C20 left end addition, which is set back from the main range. 2-, 3- and 4-light casement windows with glazing bars, the frames with chamfered mullions in the innerface may be late C17/early C18. The rear (west) elevation has a C20 small-pane timber French window inserted in the hall and another to the late C20 addition. Other windows are C19 and C20 casements, 2 panes per light. There are 3 attic dormers with hipped roofs and attic dormers to the C20 outshut. 2 wall posts of the original frame survive down to sill level. The roof is half-hipped at the left end, hipped at the right end. The axial stack has staggered triple shafts with corbelled cornices.

Interior: Good survival of original carpentry. The 2 left hand (southern) rooms have chamfered jewel-stopped ceiling beams and exposed joists. The fireplaces are brick with original C17 oak lintels, the lintel of the hall fireplace with a short jewel-stopped projection of unknown function. Redundant mortises in the cross walls between hall and inner room indicate chat the stack is secondary and a recess adjacent to the hall fireplace on the west side may indicate the position of the original stair. The service rooms at the lower end have plainer carpentry and the front (east) room now contains the C20 stair, which is said to be on the site of an earlier stair (information from owner). The first floor rooms also retain their ceiling carpentry, although that of the chamber over the inner room appears to be of a slightly later character. The chamber over the hall has a circa early C17 brick fireplace and one of the wall posts has a chamfered stopped jowl.

Roof: The roof over the right hand (north) end is concealed. Over the left end it is butt purlin construction with evidence of a former smoke bay with sooted rafters. Mortises in a tie beam just south of the stack indicate the south end framing of the smoke bay. The insertion of the stack has involved the removal of a halved collar to a pair of rafters. This may mark the northern end of the smoke bay. The roof over the hall may be of a different construction to that over the inner room.

An evolved traditional house, its internal carpentry well-preserved.

Listing NGR: TQ5425049072

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

179552

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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