Church Farmhouse

Reasons for Designation

Church Farmhouse is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* A substantially intact early C17 timber-framed vernacular house of lobby-entry plan.
* A house with additions, such as the C18 stair tower, which enhance rather than detract from the building's interest.

Details

186/0/10048

BAUGHURST
BROWNINGHILL GREEN
Church Farmhouse

23-JAN-08

II
Farmhouse, early C17 with C18 stair tower and C19 re-fronting.

MATERIALS: timber-framed, brick, tile roof, tile-hanging.

PLAN: two-storey detached house. Lobby-entry plan of three cells to each floor. Longitudinal corridor under outshut to rear and added stair-tower.

EXTERIOR: principal south elevation with rendered ground floor and tile-hung first floor. Wooden casements throughout. Tiled roof is pitched to the west and half-hipped to the east with an off-centre chimney stack on the ridge. Two entrances, both protected by wooden gable storm porches. Main entrance is the westerly of the two. Roof to the rear (north) elevation is a cat-slide almost down to ground floor level. Off-centre timber-framed gabled stair tower and a rear entrance with a gabled roof. Timber-framing evident in the side elevations particularly to the east where the wall posts, tie beams and curved braces are visible. West elevation re-built in brick beneath the wall-plate. Brick-nogging throughout.

INTERIOR: main entrance to the south-west opens into a small lobby against the end wall of the off-centre fireplace. Evidence in the frame indicates that this door was secured by a bar. Living room to west of fireplace, dining room and kitchen to the east. Longitudinal corridor to the rear, under the outshut, with a scullery and bathroom at either end. Straight staircase in later stair tower leads up to three bedrooms above the three ground floor rooms. Timber frame evident throughout with large panel-framing. That to the dining room east wall appears later, probably late C18-early C19. Much of the frame in the south wall also survives such that the C19 re-fronting is largely superficial. Substantial chamfered cross beam in the living room supported on a carved bracket to the south of mid-C17 date. Also a further chamfered longitudinal beam. Back-to back fireplace is shared by the living and dining rooms. Both fireplaces have been modified but the scale of the originals can be deduced with that in the dining room which is more indicative of the original size. Simple plank doors are mostly early C19 but some are earlier such as the northern living room door. Re-used panelling in the staircase. Exposed timber-framing in the bedrooms with straight and curved wind-braces.

HISTORY: the date of construction is not known with precision although on architectural evidence the house appears to be early C17 in origin. Stair tower added in C18. Probably a ladder or simple ladder stair provided access to the upper rooms of the house prior to the construction of the tower in the C18. C19 re-fronting when the south elevation was tile-hung and rendered and the wooden casements inserted.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION:
Church Farmhouse is designated at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* A substantially intact early C17 timber-framed vernacular house of lobby-entry plan.
* A house with additions, such as the C18 stair tower, which enhance rather than detract from the building's interest.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

503705

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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