Details
991/2/18 EASTERN ROAD
09-JUN-82 1
(Formerly listed as:
NORTH LANE
EAST END FARMHOUSE)
II
Former farmhouse. Circa 1600, possibly with a slightly earlier core, extended later C17, clad in brick circa 1800, some reordering early C20.
MATERIALS: Timber-framed, in small panels with straight braces at the angles. The rear is mostly infilled in soft red brick, the south elevation and gables are clad and partly replaced in Flemish bond red brick. The east gable is weatherboarded at upper level. A section of exposed studs and woven wattles, and daub infill survive on the rear ground floor wall under the outshut. Hipped plaintile roof, brick stacks.
PLAN: Four bays, (referred to as one to four from west to east). The central two bays are part of the original build, the left hand bay heated, the right hand bay, unheated and now housing the stairs. The west bay appears to replace an earlier third bay. The east bay is a later addition, the original ground floor end wall removed and replaced by a later partition which reduces the stair bay. Behind the second bay is a rear outshut under a continuous catslide roof. A small additional lean-to is built against the west wall. The south entrance is in the third bay but a blocked doorway in the second bay under the stack suggests a lobby entry plan. There is possibly a former doorway in the rear wall, behind the stack, the panel now infilled in brick. There is a large axial stack between first and second bays, and small external stack to east gable. The central bays have a queen strut roof, the central truss rebuilt, but also a collar beam enclosed by an inserted ceiling.
EXTERIOR: The south elevation is clad and partly replaced in red brick. Three ground floor windows are under broad cambered soldier arches. A blocked entrance in front of the stack has a small inset window. The entrance to the third bay was formerly under a gabled porch and has a framed plank door Two flat-roofed first floor windows rise above but do not cut through the wall plate. The window to the third bay is below the eaves. The rear wall has irregular window openings set into but not cutting through the frame, and a rear doorway to the first bay. Windows throughout are timber casements, mostly small-paned, that to the rear of the fourth bay probably early C20, some are later C20 top hung casements. The rear outshut, clad or built in in red brick, has C20 openings. Under the outshut is a section of exposed wattle, and sections of daub infill in the rear wall of the house.
INTERIOR: The two inner bays have cranked cross beams and tie beams. A large brick stack is remodelled on the eastern face, under a replaced bressumer. To the west the stack has an early C20 timber surround. The first bay has slender ceiling joists. The second bay has an axial beam set into the cross beam and supported above the chimneypiece and slender joists all with vestigial ogee chamfers stops. These may be inserted. The third bay houses an early C20 and later stair modelled on the late C17, reusing some turned balusters and rail. Ground floor axial joists are cruder and more substantial than those in the second bay, and usually considered old fashioned for the early C17. The fourth bay was remodelled in the early C20 and has a small brick and tile fireplace and vertically boarded door on pin hinges. The central bays have a wind-braced queen strut roof, the central strut added to support an inserted ceiling. Crude joints where the wall plates are extended to west and east are clearly visible in the end bays. On the first floor the main stack has a, early C20 brick fireplace and timber surround, flanked cupboard doors. Doors throughout are generally of ledge, and broad plank, construction, some studded, some on pin hinges. First floor elm floors.The roof was not visible above the inserted ceiling.
As a rural vernacular building it now stands a little incongruously in North Town, which until the mid C20 was undeveloped but is now a light industrial and retail area. The complexity of the plan is rare for Hampshire where three-bay, lobby-entry plan buildings are typical of the early C17. The joinery is unusual, the cranked beams exceptional for the area (and may represent a shortage of timber at this date). The survival of the fabric on the rear wall in good condition is of special interest. The building may possibly contain a slightly older core, or represent a pattern of building conservative for the early C17.
Sources: Historic Buildings Report for 1 Eastern Road, North Town, Aldershot, Hampshire, GU12 4TB, Edward Roberts, January 2007
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
No. 1 Eastern Road, formerly listed as East End Farmhouse, is designated Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* The near intact timber frame, with good surviving wattle and daub on the rear wall, and a plan of circa 1600 clearly meet the criteria for domestic buildings built prior to 1700.
* New evidence reveals the plan and development of the building to be of greater complexity than the norm for the period.
* It is a rare example of a building of this date in this area, and displays unusual joinery which is not typical of the county.
