Description

BRATTON CLOVELLY SX 49 SE

7/12 Swaddledown -

- II

Farmhouse. Probably an early C17 remodelling of a medieval house which may have been a longhouse. Victorian addition. Rendered stone rubble and cob walls. Slate roof which is hipped to right end of old house and gabled to its left end; hipped to C19 block. Old house has granite ashlar chimney with tapering cap at left gable end and rubble and granite ashlar axial stack. The old house is now at the rear of the building. It is likely to be a substantial remodelling of a medieval house from the evidence of some reused smoke-blackened timbers in the roof. Its plan as it survives is of a through-passage with a very small unheated lower room to its right, a hall with fireplace backing onto the passage and a larger inner room heated by a gable end stack. The original form of the lower end is not entirely clear as it appears to have been truncated and the pronounced downhill slope is suggestive of a longhouse. This would mean that either the shippon was demolished in the remodelling and a small service room made in its place or alternatively the service room existed inbetween the passage and shippon as at the nearby Chimsworthy (q.v.). The existence of a thick wall between hall and inner room, which extends at least up to eaves height and possibly originally to the apex, is a feature of early houses in this area. In this house it is not possible to say whether or not it marked the end of the house at the hall which was then extended but if this is so it may pre-date the C17 remodelling. In Victorian times a new L-shaped front block was added in the hall and inner room probably relegating the old house to secondary uses. A later C19 dairy was added in a lean-to against the lower right end. 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 4-window front to old house. On the 1st floor is a C19 3- light small-paned casement to the left with 2 early C20 3-light casements to its right. To the far right on the 1st floor is a late C19/early C20 4-pane sash. The ground floor has a 3-light C19 casement to the left and a similar late C20 casement at the centre. To the right of centre is a late C19/early C20 lean-to porch with C20 plank door behind which leads to the passage. Small single light early C20 casement to its right. Late C19 outshut added against right-hand end wall of house. Behind the old house but not forming the main front is the C19 block which is L- shaped with a wing projecting to the left. Interior: The roof structure is probably C18 with straight principal rafters which have lapped and pegged collars and purlins running along the backs of the principals. Some timbers including a purlin are smoke-blackened and have been reused from a medieval roof. The passage has a chamfered cross beam with straight cut stops; at its lower end is the head beam for a plank and muntin screen, chamfered with mason's mitres, the screen itself was recently removed. The lower room has a chamfered cross beam adjoining the screen head-beam with joists which are chamfered and stopped with diagonal stops. The hall has a granite framed fireplace with a straight roll- moulded lintel. The inner room has a chamfered granite-framed fireplace. It has a good quality beamed ceiling of a heavy chamfered cross beam with step stops and similarly decorated joists. Above the inner room the 2 chambers are divided by a plank and muntin screen which has chamfered muntins and head-beam with mason's mitres, the bottom appears to have rotted away and been repaired. The chamber at the higher end, into which the screen faces, has a granite-framed fireplace, chamfered with step stops to the jambs. In the gable wall adjoining it is a contemporary small-arched wooden doorway rebated for a door which leads only to a small recess but may originally have been for a garderobe. This house retains a number of good quality early features and has an interesting plan and development which is open to several interpretations.

Listing NGR: SX4599492897

External Links

• Wikidata Q26399561

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Recommended Books

• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas