Rectory Farmhouse

Rectory Farmhouse, Church Street, Great Shelford

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Overview

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
II*
List Entry Number:
1331067
Date first listed:
31-Aug-1962
List Entry Name:
Rectory Farmhouse
Statutory Address:
Rectory Farmhouse, Church Street, Great Shelford
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Official list entry

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
II*
List Entry Number:
1331067
Date first listed:
31-Aug-1962
Date of most recent amendment:
29-Aug-1984
List Entry Name:
Rectory Farmhouse
Statutory Address 1:
Rectory Farmhouse, Church Street, Great Shelford

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:
Rectory Farmhouse, Church Street, Great Shelford

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:
Cambridgeshire
District:
South Cambridgeshire (District Authority)
Parish:
Great Shelford
National Grid Reference:
TL 45709 51861

Details

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 24 March 2023 to correct a reference in selected sources, remove superfluous source details from text and to reformat the text to current standards.

TL 4551
19/64

GREAT SHELFORD
CHURCH STREET (North West Side)
Rectory Farmhouse

(formerly listed as No.34 Rectory Farmhouse)

31.8.62

GV
II*
House, early-mid C14, altered and part rebuilt C15. Other alterations of C18 and C19. Timber framed, plaster rendered with one gable end wall of C18-C19 brick, painted. Steeply pitched, tiled roofs with end stacks. Plan of hall and crosswing with a C19 porch in the angle.

Former open hall, early-mid C14 of one storey and attic. One C19 tripartite hung sash at ground floor Principal entry to two storey porch at low end of hall. Crosswing, rebuilt C15, of two storeys jettied at first floor. One hung sash to each storey. At the rear is a late C17 bakehouse. Red brick, tiled.

Interior: the whole of one bay and part of a second bay of the original open hall remain intact, slight alterations took place to the roof probably in C15 and a floor was inserted in C17 or early C18. The roof is of hammer beam queen post construction similar to that illustrated in Cordingley (British Historical Roof Types IVe, p.89). However there are no scissor braces or ashlar pieces. In the C15, probably when the crosswing was rebuilt, the base of the queen posts was cut down and a tie beam was inserted. At the same time the original crown post to the display truss was replaced by one nearer the crosswing, and the angle struts and arch bracing were removed. Apart from these changes the roof is remarkably intact, including the original hollow moulded arch braces to the hammer beams visible in the ground floor rooms. The hammer beams may be obscured by the C15 tie beam and the later inserted floor.The raised collar is cambered and constructed of divided timber balks. The soffits of these applied timbers have a roll and ogee moulding. The queen posts are of square cut timbers and have jowled heads and engaged pilasters with moulded capitals. There are mortices for angle struts in the rear faces of the queen posts. The side purlins are laid flat rather than parallel with the rafters and are square in section. Each purlin has a stop splayed scarf with undersquinted butts and four face pegs and two nails. The roof is smoke blackened generally including the vacant mortices resulting from the C15 alterations to the roof. There is a wide cross-passage at the low end of the hall, but the screen has partly been rebuilt in brick. There are later doors to the original opposing entries and to the service doorways to the C15 rebuilt crosswing. One of these rooms has reset early C17 panelling. The roof is in four bays and of clasped side purlin construction with paired wind-bracing.

Listing NGR: TL4570951861

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:
51469
Legacy System:
LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Cordingley, R A, British Historical Roof Types and Their Members A Classification, (), 89
Forrester, H, Medieval Gothic Mouldings, (1972)
Hewett, C A, English Historic Carpentry, (1980)
Fletcher, J M, Spokes, P S, The Origin and Development of Crown Post Roofs, ()

Other
R.C.H.M: record card

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.

Ordnance survey map of Rectory Farmhouse

Map

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© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2026. OS AC0000815036. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100024900.© British Crown and SeaZone Solutions Limited 2026. All rights reserved. Licence number 102006.006.

End of official list entry

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