Description

KINGSTEIGNTON GAPPAH LANE SX 87 NE 4/138 House adjoining Gappah Farmhouse at the south west

II

House, disused at time of survey (1986). Early C16, remodelled in the C17; later addition, probably of the C18. Rendered cob; tiled roof, gabled at ends (formerly thatched); left end stack with red sandstone ashlar shaft, lateral stack to front right wing. The late medieval plan was an open hall house, probably of 3 rooms with the hall to the left. In the C17 the right hand (inner) room was floored, jettying into the hall and giving an open hall to the left and a storeyed block to the right. At a later period in the C17 the hall was floored with high status carpentry detail and an axial stack added at the left end, backing on to the passage. The passage and lower end no longer exist and a C19 farmbuilding adjoins the hall at the left (lower) end. A 1 room plan addition was added to the inner room at an unknown date (purlins projecting through the right end wall). This room was later reduced to a single-storey lean-to and a subsequent 1 room plan addition was added in front of the lean-to addition forming a front right wing at right angles to the main range with a lateral stack on the right hand wall. This addition must originally have been 2 storeys but the floor has disappeared at some stage and the room was in use in a single-storey form before the building was vacated in circa 1978. 2 storey main range, single storey wing. 1 + 1 window front, the main range with a 3 plank front door to the former inner room, which now functions as a cross passage at the extreme right of the main ranges, with a sloping canopy carried on a timber bracket. 2 light first floor window with vertical glazing bars, 2 light ground floor sliding sash with lapped glass. The wing to the right has 1 first floor and 1 ground floor 3-light window with lapped glass. Interior : Impressive and unusual carpentry details to the hall, which has 2 moulded stopped cross beams, the moulding consisting of a hollow flanked by fillets. Between the inner room partition and the right hand cross beam the joists have similar mouldings and stops, the other joists are chamfered and stopped. The inner room partition is faced with circa late C17 panelling, possibly re-used, and the joists of the lower end project as a deep jetty and are rounded; C19 brick-lined fireplace, possibly concealing earlier features. There is a good C17 or earlier chamfered stopped doorway between the hall and the inner room. The inner room is very narrow and contains a C19 stair with stick balusters. No access to the apex of the roofspace at time of survey but the trusses are clearly crucks (probably jointed) and a smoke-blackened rafter is visible behind the plasterwork. The single storey right hand room is plastered and papered up to the roof trusses with a cove in the left hand wall. An evolved house of medieval origins and considerable survival of high quality carpentry. The best, moulded joists are reserved for the higher end of the hall indicating the status of that end of the room.

Listing NGR: SX8622177415

External Links

• Wikidata Q26458954

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)