The Olde House

THE OLDE HOUSE

House dated 1610 and 1613, built for Jacob and Ruth Astill in Rearsby. The building underwent significant alterations and extensions in the 18th century, followed by internal alterations, restoration, and rebuilding of one gable wall in 1935 for Sir Frank Craven.

The exterior is timber-framed on a cobble plinth with brick nogging in square panels and some arch bracing. The roof is covered with Swithland slate, with a brick central ridge and stacks at the right end. The original structure was a 3-unit lobby-entry plan with an additional cross-wing on the right, later extended at the service end with a single-storey and attic projection on the far left. The building rises to 2 storeys and attic.

All windows appear to date from 1935 and feature leaded lights with some stained glass panels. The main range has 4 lower casement windows and 3 above at varying levels. A dormer is set in the roof, with a tall axial stack and a further stack on the left gable end. The projecting cross-wing is jettied and has a canted oriel bay window to both ground and first floors; the head of the lower oriel bears the date 1613 with initials A over IR. The right end has a projecting stack. Square panel framing dominates the exterior overall. The original wattle and daub infill was replaced by brick nogging in 1935 using small bricks which may have been re-used. A smaller brick wing stands to the far left with one upper light. The left end features a doorway and lean-tos. The rear now has the main entrance set in a gabled porch with square-panel framing matching the front, leaded casements, and two gabled dormers. A brick-rebuilt gable stands to the left.

The interior retains much of the original plan, with a lobby in front of back-to-back fireplaces. The left fireplace still bears its original bressumer with a lead-filled carved date of 1610 and the initials IRA. The staircase well now contains a 1935 staircase which continues to the attic in a former bedroom space now open to the roof. The heavy jowled posts of the main frame remain largely visible, as do the bridging beams and joists. These posts feature wide plain chamfers typical of the early 17th century with plain stops. The joists in the right ground-floor unit (viewed from the road) are chamfered. The cross-wing ground-floor room has a 20th-century character with covered beams. Heavy scantling framing with corner bracing is visible in places, as are the roof trusses. The main roof features coupled and pegged rafters along its full length, with original purlins surviving in the staircase hall area. Elsewhere the purlins have been replaced at a different height. In the principal bedroom on the cross-wing first floor, one bridging beam appears to be original; the other appears to have originally been a gable-end tie beam and may have been from the original rear gable-end wall, which was rebuilt in 1935 with initials and dates. The principal bedroom includes an unusual ensuite bathroom of 1935, complete with original fittings, cupboards, and lights, finished with fine art deco tiling in two shades of green.

Jacob and Ruth Astill built the house between 1610 and 1613, as evidenced by carved dates and initials on wall posts and the fireplace bressumer. The Astills remained owners until the late 17th or early 18th century, when the freehold was acquired by Richard Benskin (1671–1756). The Benskins continued in occupation as brewers and maltsters until the death of Edward Stanton Benskin in 1934, when the house was purchased and restored by Sir Frank Craven.

This fine yeoman's house retains much of its original plan form and structure, including good wall framing, the main roof structure, and an open fireplace.