Daubneys Farmhouse

Details

TL 51 SE SHEERING THE STREET, (North Side), 3/2 Daubneys Farmhouse

GV II* House, mid-C16, extended in C19 and C20. Timber-framed, plastered, roofed with handmade red clay tiles. 4 bays aligned approx. NE-SW, of characteristic medieval plan with service end and cross-entry at NE, parlour and solar at SW. Internal chimney stack immediately NE of central tiebeam, against SE wall, leaving cross-entry unobstructed. Additional axial chimney to NE of cross- entry, arching over to join main stack at roof level, C19. Internal chimney stack at SW end, C17/18. Tiled gabled wing to NW, probably built as a stair tower, with single-storey lean-to extensions each side. 2 storeys. SE elevation, glazed door and 3 metal casement windows, 4 more on first floor, all C20. Hipped roof with gablet at each end. 2 diagonal shafts and one plain shaft on main chimney stack. Some framing exposed internally. Close studding with some brick infill. Jowled posts, straight tiebeams with arched braces. Despite the medieval plan the house was built in 2 storeys from the outset, the floor beams framed round a timber-framed chimney which is still partially present, although bricked in in the early C17. The original mantel beam is elaborately roll-moulded and embattled, with a later rack for 5 spits. There is a Tudor doorhead at the rear (NW) end of the cross-entry, carved with a cross and circles with intersecting arcs. There were twin doors opening into twin service rooms NE of the cross-entry, now blocked by the C19 chimney stack, but their positions marked by light mouldings above. The partition between the service rooms has been removed, the empty mortices in the axial beam covered by a plank. There were twin unglazed windows in the NE wall, their positions occupied by C20 windows, the sills still present. At the SW end of the 'hall' the original parlour door is still present, composed of radially cut wedge- shaped planks rebated together on ledges, a rare survival, with a Tudor doorhead similar to that already described. A strip of oak panelling, late C16, forming the back of a fixed seat is still present, the seat removed. This too is a rare survival. Axial beams plain-chamfered with step stops, joists plastered to the soffits, many original rebated floorboards. On the first floor there is a blocked unglazed window in the NW wall of the service end, and shutter grooves for others replaced by C20 windows. All the present metal casements occupy the positions of original windows and conform to the same dimensions. Edge-halved and bridled scarf in NW wallplate. Original ceiling over first floor, with axial beam and joists of square section plain-chamfered with step stops, supported on clamps a little above wallplate level, an unusual feature. No access to roof space. This is an exceptionally interesting building, transitional in type between the true medieval hall house and the later 2-storey forms, retaining an unusual number of original features. Parallels exist at Colville Hall, White Roding, and the Pavilion of Felsted School, which last has doorheads of similar profile. RCHM 7.

Listing NGR: TL5083614061

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

118271

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
An Inventory of Essex Central and South West, (1921)

End of official list entry

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