Description

SE 7806-7906 BELTON CHURCHTOWN

18/16 Church Farmhouse 19.11.85 GV II

Farmhouse. C16 origins, rebuilt c1580 for Ryther family, reputedly as priests residence, and refronted and raised for Ryther family in 1707; early C19 repairs, renovations of 1970s. Timber-framing, infilled and encased in brick, with inserted brick axial stack. Pantile roof. Plan: probably originally an open hall with a first-floor chamber to the left end, altered to 3 rooms with lobby entry to left of centre, and with outshut to rear left containing main and secondary staircases; later single-room addition to left end. 2 storeys, 4 bays, with entrance to narrow second bay; single-storey, single-bay addition to left. Plinth, chamfered quoins. Entrance bay breaks forward, with original 3-fielded-panel door with "1707" studded in nails on central rail, set in C19 frame with plain C20 glazed overlight beneath stucco flat arch with vermiculated keystone. C20 2-light 8-pane casements with sills beneath similar keyed arches. First floor: entrance bay has small 6-pane window with stone tablet below bearing inscription:

B R E 1 7 0 7

in round-arched panel with incised star motifs in spandrels; carved tablet above window bearing painted Ryther family arms with crest surmounted by mantled helm. Flanking bays have stepped eaves. C19 paired brackets for guttering (missing at time of resurvey). 2 courses of concrete flat tiles at eaves. C19 rebuilt axial stack. Right end stack. Left extension has late C18-early C19 16-pane sliding sash, stepped eaves, C20 wooden eaves board; round-headed entrance with board door beneath plain panel to left return. Right return has pair of C20 6-pane ground-floor casements. Rear elevation has random fenestration and altered entrances. Interior. Visible timber framing includes wall posts, intermediate posts and rear wall plate with pegged stop-splayed scarf joint. Ground-floor rooms have heavy chamfered spine beams (that to central room with cyma stops) and exposed joists, those to left room laid flat and probably C16, those to right rooms C18 insertions or early C19 replacements. Inserted chimney has inglenooks with salt cupboards and chamfered oak bressumers with cyma stops. Front wall contains a pair of blocked former open hall windows, one apparently containing sections of original oak frame beneath the plaster. Good C17- early C18 open-well main staircase with corniced string, corniced handrail, squat bulb-on-urn balusters with round knops, and profiled newel posts with sockets for former finials. Outshut contains a C18 domed oven with a reset flattened ogee-moulded lintel or bressumer inscribed "1707" supporting a wrought-iron framework for the brick dome; adjacent room contains reused timber framing. The Ryther arms on the front also appear on Robert Ryther's tombstone of 1695 in the nearby church of All Saints (qv), however the initials on the datestone do not correspond to those of the then vicar, or members of the main branch of the Ryther family. Some episodes of the building history are well documented in the deeds. An early and important survival.

Listing NGR: SE7823806326

External Links

• Wikidata Q26630221

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Recommended Books

• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)