The Coates and Associated Barns

Summary

A box-framed farmhouse dating from the late C15 and altered in the C17, with associated barns thought to date from the C16 and later.

Reasons for Designation

The Coates, a house of the late C15, and its associated barns of the C16 and later are listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* The Coates is a remarkable survival of a late-C15 house of status, with much surviving historic fabric;
* it is a good example of box-framing in Shropshire, which shows its evolution and has surviving trusses, a louvre and apparent evidence for a ceiling boss which all speak of the significance of the house;
* the associated barns are substantial examples of their type, which appear to survive well and form a good group with the house.

Historic interest:

* the layout of the house provides much evidence about the organisation and use of such houses of the period, and their evolution over time;
* the layout of the farmstead, with house and barns, shows good evidence of the wealth and status of the property;
* the dendrochronology evidence and the surviving deeds are an interesting record of the early development of the house.

History

The Coates farm, previously also known as Coats, is a large, box-framed house dating from the late C15. Dendrochronology work was carried out in the 1990s, sampling timbers from the principal rafters and the wall plate, which showed that the timber used in the construction of the building came from trees felled in the summer of 1486. This coincides with a deed of 1487 which describes the owner as one 'John Leyton of Cotys, gent'.

The original building is thought to have consisted of a hall and service wing with detached kitchen. The hall, later truncated, was 30' by 24' and is likely to have been a full-height space open to the roof, as indicated by the apparent remains of a louvered opening in the roof structure, suggesting the presence of a fire below. Beyond the hall, separated by the screens passage, would have been a service wing access by two doors from the passage and giving access to service rooms such as the buttery and pantry, with the kitchen beyond. In this case, the kitchen was originally a freestanding structure.

As is common in houses of this type, the hall was floored over to provide accommodation above, and it seems likely that this may have taken place in the C17. Possibly at a similar time, the service wing was replaced by the present cross-wing or parlour wing, and the kitchen was also incorporated into the main building. A two-storey porch was also added to the front of the house; this was later rebuilt in the C20. The brick cladding added to the exterior of the hall range is also understood to have been added in the C20.

The large barns close to the house are thought to date, at least in part, from the late C16.

Details

A box-framed farmhouse dating from the late C15 and altered in the C17, with associated barns thought to date from the C16 and later.

MATERIALS: the farmhouse is timber framed on a stone plinth with areas of brick cladding and tile roofs. The barns are also timber framed with weatherboarded elevations.

PLAN: The house has a hall and cross-wing plan; the hall is orientated roughly north-south, with the screens passage at the northern end and the C17 cross-wing beyond that with the former detached kitchen now attached.

The barns stand approximately 30 metres to the south-west of the house, and form a wide V-shape with projecting wings to the south.

EXTERIOR: the house is of two storeys with much exposed close-studded timber framing above a stone plinth, which was installed around 1970. The left-hand gable denotes the cross-wing which has a large external chimney stack, and what appears to be a modern bay window at ground-floor level with three-light window above. To the right, the two-storey porch has a small gable and contains the main entrance. The hall range beyond this is encased in brick, this thought to have been added in the 1950s, and has a bay window at ground-floor level and a dormer window above.

The rear elevation is thought to be further close-studded timber framing with irregular fenestration. It appears to have a door marking the opposite end of the screens passage and a gable at the rear of the cross-wing. The former detached kitchen has a gable to the northern end.

INTERIOR: It is understood that the former hall has been subdivided and now forms two rooms, with inserted chequerboard ceilings. It is also understood to retain a central truss with arch-braces with cavetto mouldings which reach past the wall-plate, and a mostly intact spere-truss over the screen. The roof over the hall and passage is understood to be intact, with evidence showing the position of the original louvre opening.

The associated BARNS are thought to retain their queen-post roof structure with chamfered tie beams. They are shown in much their current form on the tithe map of 1840 and subsequent historic Ordnance Survey maps. There are three projecting wings to the south; the westernmost appears to have been rebuilt in modern times and is not included in the listing. The central and eastern appear to match their historic form.

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Newman, J, The Buildings of England: Shropshire, (2006), 492
Moran, M, Vernacular Buildings of Shropshire, (2003), 83, 89-90, 124, 126, 354, 488-9

Websites
Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory, accessed 20 November 2018 from http://www.oxford-dendrolab.com/shropshire.asp

Other
Vernacular Architecture Journal, volume 27, 1996. pp.104-105
Shropshire Historic Environment Record ref.15506
Information supplied by owner.

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