Horsham

Details

MANATON SX 77 NE 5/30 Horsham (formerly listed as - 10.3.77 Horsham Farmhouse) - II*

House, originally farmhouse. Early C16. Floored-in probably circa 1600, remodelled in C18 and extended at rear in C20. Granite rubble walls with granite quoins, old granite stacks at either gable end with drip-courses. Axial stack at ridge with rebuilt and rendered shaft. Wood shingle roof with gable ends. 3-room and through passage plan originally with open hall and unheated inner room and lower end. Closed truss at upper end of hall, inner room possibly always had a chamber above it. Internal jetty at lower end of hall over cross passage, renewal of the roof makes it difficult to tell if this was an original feature or inserted. Floored and stacks inserted circa 1600. The screen at the upper end of the hall dates from this period and must have replaced an earlier structure. A newel staircase was inserted at this stage next to the hall stack, projecting from the front wall of the house. In C18 the house was remodelled: the front wall of the hall and lower end was built out in line with and enclosing the stair projection. Internally the room use was re-orientated so that the lower end became the parlour and the inner room a service room. In C20 a large rear wing was added to the higher end. 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 4-window front, all C18, 3-light wood casements with leaded panes, except for first floor centre which is 2-light iron casement. The frames are flush on the outside with moulded timber uprights internally, some retain stanchion bars inside. All have probably original timber lintels. At right of centre is C19 plank door to passage in C20 open-fronted granite porch with weather-boarded gable. Steps up to later doorway at higher left hand gable end which is built partially into the bank. To rear is C18 doorway to lower end and various C20 windows in small openings. (C20 rendered flat-roofed wing at rear). The lower gable end has 3 pigeon holes above a C19 lean-to outbuilding. Good interior which has been little altered since C18. 1 substantial original roof truss has survived a bad fire in the mid C20. It is the closed truss at the upper end of the hall. The feet of the trusses are not visible and due to the fire the form of the apex is unclear but the cranked collar which is morticed into the trusses suggests an early C16 date. Severe charring precludes the evidence of any smoke-blackening. The infilling does not survive intact up to the apex but the remains of the wattle and daub partition exist beneath the collar. The through passage is cobbled and the back of the hall fireplace is characteristically constructed of dressed granite blocks. To the right of the doorway from pasasge to hall is a small section of plank and muntin screen with chamfered muntin and head- beam, possibly this is a vestige of the screen which must have extended the full depth of the hall before the fireplace was inserted. The fireplace has roughly dressed monolithic granite jambs and a wooden lintel, chamfered with scroll stops. There is a stone oven in the right-hand corner. The internal jetty consists of a cross beam, roughly chamfered with step stops, marking a difference in ceiling height at a point approximately half way into the depth of the chimney-breast. The ceiling has a central cross beam chamfered with hollow step stops. At the upper end of the hall a plank and muntin screen extends the original width of the room. The rail and muntins are ovolo-moulded, the latter having high faceted vase stops and a section of apparently original bench survives on a chamfered bracket. The head beam has roll and hollow moulding. The inner room has a cross beam and half beam against the upper end wall which are chamfered with hollow step stops. To the lower side of the passage the partition is plastered, possibly concealing an early screen. The lower room contains an C18 fireplace with moulded cornice and simple framed stair with square newels and handrail. On the first floor above the lower room is a similar C18 fireplace with moulded cornice and containing a Victoria grate. C18 and C19 plank doors survive on the first floor. Where the newel staircase rose from the hall the stairs have been removed but the curved recess in the wall remains. A wooden door-frame contemporary with the newel staircase survives where the stairs would originally have opened onto the first floor and is chamfered with a cranked head. The existing framed staircase is probably C18 and underneath it in the hall is a cupboard whose doors have H-hinges and ventilation lights. Outside, in the immediate vicinity of the house, the traditional cobbled yard survives with an old leat system. In spite of the C20 rear wing and sub-division of the building into 2 units this house survives in a very traditional and unspoilt condition changed little since the C18 and retains interesting features of that period as well as being a good example of a medieval open-hall house with internal jetty.

Listing NGR: SX7570281436

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

84965

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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