Medieval Hall and Cross-wings at Freedom Church

Medieval Hall and Cross-wings at Freedom Church

A mid-15th century open hall with remains of a high end and adjoining 16th and 17th century cross-wings, much altered in later periods.

The medieval building is constructed of an oak timber frame with oak roof structures, encased in 18th and 19th century brick on stone cills with brick and stone detailing.

The plan consists of a four-bay open hall oriented east to west, with cross-wings forming a two-storey H-plan building. The cross-wings were subsequently extended and a north range built to create a roughly square footprint with a central courtyard.

The brick south front features three recessed central bays corresponding to the open hall, with gabled bays (the cross-wings) projecting forward on each side, brick banding and segmental headed openings. The bay to the left of centre has a two-storey gabled porch with labelled moulds and a keystone to the door and window above, topped with a coped gable. Timber framing is visible within the porch. The gabled end-bays on each side (one window wide to the left, two windows wide to the right) have storey bands, a roundel brick detail to the coped gable and corner buttresses. An iron bellcote sits on the pitched roof. The flank elevations to east and west are partly obscured by mid-19th and later brick wings. The north elevation of the hall now faces the central courtyard and has an attached inserted glazed roof at first-floor level. The north elevation shows exposed timber-framing with brick infill to each storey. The cross-wings have painted brick or clad elevations facing the courtyard.

Internally, the principal entrance from the south front leads into a corridor in the west cross-wing. To the right lies the former open hall, the medieval core of the building, with exposed 15th century framing and a 17th century ceiling. The timber framing to the east wall has been revealed and opens to the 15th and 17th century east cross-wing, which is a closed partition forming part of the mid-15th century primary structure. The sill beam, two posts, one stud and a mid-rail appear to be original. Framing in the north wall of the hall includes a possible former door, and part of the south wall has been rebuilt in brick. Some medieval wall posts remain in situ, along with four additional 21st century posts supporting the location of a former inserted stair. The centre posts to the north and south walls have mouldings carried through to the first floor.

At first-floor level, the hall posts are part-exposed and jowled where they join the roof trusses. The moulded centre post to the south wall has a former carved capital embedded within the wall. The south-east corner post has an empty mortice, and the north-west corner post in the west cross-wing has a substantial wall plate that may include a former door head.

The 15th century hall roof structure comprises five complete oak trusses. The central three trusses have hollow-chamfered arch-braced collars with protruding pegs. Above the collar the principals are cusped with a diagonal ridgepiece. The two outer closed trusses have a tie beam and collar arrangement with posts and red brick infill between them. There are two rows of purlins, and the upper row has cusped wind braces to the principals (those below have been removed). Extensive smoke blackening covers all timbers except the ridgepiece and some common rafters. Surviving original common rafters exist in four of the five bays of the open roof, with some strengthening including iron bracing to one arch-braced truss. Notches in the central truss may relate to a former louvre.

Both cross-wings project forward of the hall front at the south end and extend north by a bay beyond the single-room hall. The cross-wings have exposed timber framing to both floors including jowled posts and moulded, chamfered and stopped ceiling beams. The ground floor of the east wing has 15th century oak ceiling beams and a later stone and brick chimneybreast between two principal rooms, with chimneypieces to each side. In the north room, two stop-chamfered ceiling beams sit in a substantial lateral ceiling beam that probably marks the original end wall of the wing but now opens into the north end of the building. The original northern extent of the 15th century cross-wing is uncertain.

The west cross-wing has an oak-panelled south room with ceiling beams and a chimneypiece in an angled wall. The room to its north has an opposing chimneypiece and substantial chamfered ceiling beams. Further north is the brickwork of a former porch and an inserted stair to the first floor, positioned north of a closed end truss forming the former north end wall of the cross-wing. This truss bears semi-circular carpenter's marks to the outer face of timbers, a form typically ascribed in Herefordshire to the late 16th or early 17th century. The roofs of the cross-wings are of oak and elm and include reused elements; some bear taper burn ritualistic marks.