Yew Tree Farmhouse

Yew Tree Farmhouse is a farmhouse whose main range is a one-and-a-half-storey timber-framed structure probably built in the mid-17th century, with 19th-century brick infill. It has two brick extensions: one from the early to mid-18th century and another built between 1901 and 1909. The roof is tiled.

Plan and Layout

The mid-17th-century range runs east-west and has a lobby entrance plan. It consists of a large central room, a small parlour at the east end, and two service rooms at the west end. The service room on the north side is accessible from the attached 1901–1909 extension. Two staircases provide access to four first-floor rooms. A one-and-a-half-storey early to mid-18th-century kitchen range is attached at right angles on the north side, with one room on each floor. A single-storey lean-to dating to 1901–1909 stands at the north-west corner.

Exterior

The eastern half of the mid-17th-century range features small square timber framing, with some timbers missing. Remnants of original wattle and daub infill survive, though some 19th-century brick infill is also missing in places. The western half of the range has been largely replaced in brick, painted to imitate timber framing. The roof has been raised slightly, and brickwork above the wall plate is painted to imitate timber framing. The original thatch roof covering has been replaced with tiles. The windows are timber.

The south elevation has three bays. The two bays to the left have been largely rebuilt in brick, though the wall plate survives. Bay three retains a full timber frame including angle and tension braces. Bay one has a slender six-light window at ground-floor centre, with a dormer window above to the right (glazing bars and glazing lost). Bay two has a 16-light timber window at ground floor, with four lights at the centre flanked by four smaller lights arranged vertically on each side. Above is a dormer window (glazing lost) with a single glazing bar on the left side; the matching glazing bar on the right side is lost. A doorway at ground-floor right of bay two has a 19th-century plank and batten door, positioned directly below a brick ridge stack. Bay three has an eight-light window at ground-floor centre, with two larger central lights flanked by three lights on each side.

The west elevation shows the gable end of the mid-17th-century range rebuilt in red brick. Early purlins, principal rafters, ridge piece and remnants of a tie beam are exposed, with infill above (where the roof has been raised) in brown brick. A small four-light window sits at first-floor centre, and a small window opening without glazing is at ground-floor left. A single-storey lean-to (1901–1909) in brown brick painted to imitate timber framing is attached to the left, with a small four-light window. Brickwork and two small windows in the same style appear on the lean-to's north return wall.

The east elevation retains the majority of its timber frame to the gable end. Some timbers are missing to the left half below the wall plate, and brickwork is painted to imitate the lost timbers. The gable features paired queen struts with V-struts above the collar beam. A small integral window at the centre of the queen struts has lost its glazing but retains a single glazing bar on the left side. A small surviving section of wattle and daub infill remains between the two queen struts to the right.

The north elevation has a full frame to bay one, including angle and tension braces. A later inserted doorway containing a fragment of a 19th-century plank and batten door accesses under-stair storage. The short early to mid-18th-century (pre-1762) one-and-a-half-storey kitchen range in brown and red brick is attached to bay two at right angles. Its tiled roof has also been raised slightly and features a short brick ridge stack at the north end. The east elevation of this range has a doorway at ground-floor left with a wide plank and batten door containing four planks of irregular width, and a four-light window to the right of the door. The north-facing gable end has a small window (glazing lost) at first-floor right. The north wall of the early 20th-century lean-to is attached to the right of the gable end, concealing bay three of the mid-17th-century range.

Interior

Ground-floor rooms have tiled and earth floors; first-floor rooms have wide floorboard floors.

The mid-17th-century range is three cells long. All ground-floor rooms have exposed ceiling joists with heavy supporting beams featuring wide chamfers of approximately two inches; some have straight-cut stops. The first-floor rooms have later lath and plaster ceilings.

The small parlour at the east end has a 19th-century plank and batten door, plastered walls, shallow skirtings, and a mid-19th-century timber fire surround with arched cast-iron insert on the west wall. A heavy chamfered beam runs east-west with straight-cut stops at the west end. A recessed window with very deep reveals is in the south wall. The 19th-century inserted north wall of plastered brick conceals an under-stair storage area accessible externally on the north side of the building.

The large room at the centre of the range spans the full width. It has a timber-framed west wall with later brick infill. An inglenook fireplace on the east wall contains a 19th-century inserted cast-iron range. A heavy chamfered beam runs east-west at the centre of the room, in alignment with that in the parlour, with straight-cut stops at the west end. Nineteenth-century plank and batten doors at the north end of the east and west walls lead to replaced 19th-century timber stairs ascending to first-floor rooms. A low pegged-in mid-17th-century cambered doorway at the far left of the west wall has a three-plank plank and batten door set flush behind the doorframe. This leads into a narrow service room with a raised floor and low ceiling at the west end of the range. The room contains whitewashed timber framing on the north and east walls.

A winder stair at the west end of the central room leads to a small first-floor landing accessing three rooms, all with early plank and batten doors with wooden latches and wide planks of irregular width. The room at the west end and the small room on the south side both have some exposed timber framing. A single step to the east side of the landing leads into the large room at the centre, which has a slightly higher floor level. This room has exposed timber framing on each wall and exposed lower sections of two different roof trusses at each end. The truss at the west end has a tie beam incorporating an integral pegged-in doorway, collar beam, and king and queen struts. The truss at the east end has straight wind braces flanking a tapered brick chimneybreast.

A stair at the eastern end of this room to ground-floor centre leads directly into the first-floor room at the east end of the range. This room has whitewashed timber framing visible on each wall and principal rafters visible on the west wall. A mid-19th-century timber fire surround and cast-iron grate are on the later chimneybreast on the west wall. A gap in the later inserted lath and plaster ceiling enabled partial viewing of the roof structure above, which mainly consists of early 20th-century rafters, though early purlins, a ridge piece and roof truss timbers could also just be observed.

A doorway in the north wall of the ground-floor centre room of the mid-17th-century range leads into the early to mid-18th-century kitchen range. The ground-floor room has exposed ceiling joists and a heavy chamfered beam running north-south with stops at each end. A large fireplace bressumer is on the north wall. An enclosed panelled timber ladder-style stair with a hatch cover alongside the south wall accesses the first-floor room above, which contains a chimneybreast on the north wall and visible timber framing on the south wall (the original external wall of the mid-17th-century range).

An inserted doorway in the west wall of the ground-floor room leads into the early 20th-century lean-to, which has a half-truss roof and a timber-framed south wall (the original external wall of the mid-17th-century range) containing two doorway openings. The opening at the east end is taller and is blocked up on the reverse side. The opening at the centre is lower with a plank and batten door with four planks of irregular width. Infill panels have been removed from a section of frame at the western end of the south wall, creating a third opening. The two latter openings access a narrow room to the rear right of the mid-17th-century range with visible timber framing on the north, south and east walls, exposed ceiling joists, and a heavy chamfered beam running east-west with stops at each end.

History

The exact date of construction of Yew Tree Farmhouse is unknown, but it is believed to have probably been built in the mid-17th century as a one-and-a-half-storey farmhouse. A one-and-a-half-storey kitchen range was later added at right angles to the original range, probably in the early to mid-18th century. The extension is depicted on an historic map dating to 1762. A single-storey infill extension was added to the rear right of the building between 1901 and 1909.

In the late 17th century the building was known as Woodhouse Lane Farm. Around 1680 it formed part of the Buerton Estate owned by Sir Thomas Delves of Doddington. At this time it was a thatched timber-framed building with wattle and daub and brick infill. It was tenanted to Michael and Isabel Huntbach and their family, and the farm was used for both arable and pasture farming. The tenancy passed down through the family generations. The Huntbach family later bought two neighbouring parcels of land, 'The Big Field' and 'The Patch'. On the latter they built a house known as The Ash around 1770. The tenancy remained in the Huntbach family until 1784.

The farm continued to be tenanted out to various people until 1904, when it was sold by Sir Delves Louis Broughton to Henry Charles Green for £2,500. It is at this point that the building is believed to have changed name to Yew Tree Farm. In the third edition Ordnance Survey map for Shropshire published in 1909, it is depicted as 'Yewtree' for the first time—a singular name that has since evolved into the separate 'Yew Tree'. In 1914 both Yew Tree Farmhouse and The Ash were sold to a Mr Nield who had been renting The Ash. Both properties then became collectively known as The Ash, but at some subsequent point during the 20th century the name Yew Tree Farmhouse came back into use. Since around 1904 Yew Tree Farmhouse has not been inhabited.

The building is designated at Grade II as an interesting survival of a mid-17th-century timber-framed farmhouse that was enlarged in the early to mid-18th century and early 20th century, and updated in the 19th century. Each phase of the building's development is readable in the plan layout and the surviving fabric. It retains good quality interior features from each phase of development, including 17th-century heavy chamfered beams with straight-cut stops, a cambered doorway, plank and batten doors with wooden latches and an inglenook fireplace, and mid-19th-century fireplaces and a cast-iron range.