Details
INGATESTONE AND FRYERNING
TL60SW
723-1/2/422
20/02/76 BLACKMORE ROAD
(South side)
Woodbarns farmhouse and Fir tree Cottage
(Formerly Listed as:
BRENTWOOD
BLACKMORE ROAD,Fryerning
Woodbarns)
II
House, now house and cottage. Late C16 and early C17 extended in early Clg and C20, altered in early C19. Timber-framed, partly clad with early Clg red brick in Flemish bond, partly plastered, roofed with handmade red clay tiles. Early C17 main range facing SE with central stack, original wing to rear left, and original stair-tower in rear angle. C20 single-storey extension to left of rear wing. Early C19 rear wing to right of stair-tower. 2 storeys. Late C16 wing of one storey with attics to right, single-storey ancillary range to rear right of it, C18/early C19, and single-storey extension to front right, 1935. Fir Tree Cottage comprises the right part of this wing and forward extension, Woodbarns Farmhouse comprises the remainder. Ground floor, 2 early C19 tripartite sashes of 4:12:4 lights, with flat arches of gauged brick and some crown glass. First floor, 2 similar sashes, and central sash of 6+6 lights with similar arch. Central early C19 6-panel door, the bottom panels flush, the others fielded,overlight with saltire glazing bars and reeded sill, similar panelled reveals, pilasters and flat canopy on profiled brackets. Symmetrical elevation. Moulded brick cornice and plain parapet. Hipped roof. The brick facade continues roundthe left elevation part of the way, with on each floor one early C19 sash of 8+8 lights with segmental arches and some crown glass; the remainder is ashlared plaster. All the rear roofs are hipped. One early C19 sash of 6+6 lights on the ground floor at rear of rear right wing; other windows are C19 and C20 casements.
INTERIOR: the main house has heavy studding, with straight and cranked bracing trenched to the inside, and chamfered axial beams with lamb's tongue stops at both floors, some boxed in; joists ceiled to the soffits. 2 large wood-burning hearths with 0.33m jambs, back to back. The left hearth has a chamfered mantel beam with lamb's tongue stops, inserted internal splays, and cement pointing. On the first floor, to rear of the stack, are 3 early C18 closets, each with a serpentine fretted grill above the door; 2 of the doors are original, ledged with grooved vertical boards, with butterfly hinges; one is 4-panel. Clasped purlin roof, the purlins of the rear left wing tenoned to the principal rafters of the main roof. Original wattle and daub in a framed partition which separates a floored attic to right of the stack from the remainder. C18 small wrought-iron casement in right attic Several 6-panel doors with C18/early C19 brass locks, and plain boarded doors with wrought-iron fittings. The right wing has unjowled posts, heavy oak framing, mostly concealed by modern finishes. C20 grates.
HISTORICAL NOTE: this holding is mentioned in the will of John Sylvester the elder, yeoman, of 1559/60. The house is illustrated in the Walker map of 1601, seen from the NW (towards the farmyard, now the rear) as a single-storey range with 2 doors and 2 windows, a higher bay to the right with a chimney and one window, and a gabled 2-storey cross-wing to the right of it. (Essex Record Office). The present house appears to retain all but the cross-wing, replaced by the present main range, but now facing SE.
(Morant P: The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex: 1768-: 47; Essex Record Office: D/DP: 8).
Listing NGR: TL6202200814
