The Waldegrave Arms, East Harptree

Summary

An inn, probably formerly a late-medieval church house of C15/C16 date with a later wing of probable C17 date.

Reasons for Designation

The Waldegrave Arms, East Harptree, Somerset, a probable late-C15/ early-C16 church house and inn, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* Church houses are comparatively rare, especially those constructed before 1700;
* Substantial late-medieval collared roofs are important examples of high quality late-medieval craftsmanship;
* A significant proportion of the C15/16 fabric remains, possibly with later fixtures and fittings associated with its later use as an inn.

Historical interest:

* Where they survive well, church houses provide important evidence of the social and administrative role played by the Church in the medieval communities which it served;
* The wing of probable C17 date is also of note as part of the historic evolution of the use of the building as an inn.

Group value:

* With the historically associated Church of St Laurence (Grade II*) and a number of other listed buildings at the centre of this medieval village.

History

The east wing of the building that now forms The Waldegrave Arms was probably built as a late-medieval church house that dates to the late C15 or early C16. It was built on a former open common next to the parish church, which has late C12 origins, by the churchwardens. A church house was an early form of village hall which also served as a meeting place for resident and visiting clergy. They were established as a response to developing religious ideas about the sanctity of the parish church, which previously had hosted seasonal ‘church ales’, communal gatherings at Holy Day feasts and festivals. The festivities involved the consumption of beer and cider, which came to be considered inappropriate behaviour in the church nave. Therefore, church houses were constructed during the medieval period, commonly in the south west of England, and usually close to the church. Almost every Somerset parish had a church house by the C16.

Church ales were increasingly frowned upon following the English Reformation, and actively suppressed during the rise of Puritanism in the C17. The role of the church house for helping the poor was also diminished by the introduction of church rates and poor relief, and their number declined from the early C17. During the C17 and C18 other uses were generally found for them, as inns or dwellings, and sometimes as almshouses. The example at The Waldegrave Arms had an additional wing built around this time, which may have coincided with its evolution into an inn. It is shown broadly on its current footprint on the Ordnance Survey Map of 1886.
As a public house it has been subject to general updating and alteration since that time, closed in 2016 and reopened as a community venture in January 2025.

Details

A probable former church house of late-C15/ early-C16 date, now an inn, with an additional wing of C17/C18 date.

MATERIALS: constructed of local rubble stone with oak roof structure, clay pantile roof coverings and brick stacks.

PLAN: T-plan and of two storeys. The late-medieval east/west range appears to be of seven bays with an external stair on the south east wall. The later north/south range is of five bays.

EXTERIOR: the road front of the C15/C16 range has the main pub entrance to the right and a further entrance to a left bay. The openings across the façade are irregularly spaced and most have brick arches and architraves. The gabled end elevation of the C17 range stands forward to the right. It is finished in cement render and the tall plinth has a batter at both ends. The steep roof has coped verges to the gable ends. At the south flank is an attached two-bay cross-wing with a two-leaf door to the right with three steps, an eight-over-eight sash to the left, and a six-over-six sash above. To the left is a later single bay, also of two-storeys, with an eight-over-eight sash above a stone lean-to, which has a shallow pitched roof and timber service doors with strap hinges facing Manor Road. The gable end of the cross-wing has a modern central opening. The north flank of the cross-wing has a door at upper level served by a stone external stair, and to the left is a door at lower level into the earlier part of the wing. There is a window to the right of the door in an opening filled in red brick, and the wall below has a batter. Parts of the rear wall of the main block are exposed rubble, and others clad in timber boards.

INTERIOR: the ground floor of the C17 range is a single room with an inglenook at each end and an exposed first floor structure with substantial chamfered beams with run-out stops and substantial joists. Information regarding the other parts of the interior is not available except that it is recorded as having a late-medieval collar-truss roof to the earlier range.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 4 February 2026 to amend the last sentence of the History section.

Sources

Books and journals
Jamieson, E, The Historic Landscape of the Mendip Hills, (2015), 161/162

End of official list entry

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