The Ferns is a Grade II listed building in the Herefordshire, County of local planning authority area, England. First listed on 14 March 1986. House, hostel. 2 related planning applications.
The Ferns
- WRENN ID
- haunted-gravel-wax
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Herefordshire, County of
- Constituency
- Hereford and South Herefordshire MP: Jesse Norman (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 14 March 1986
- Type
- House, hostel
- Address
- The Ferns, Longtown, HR2 0LD
- OS grid reference
- SO 321 290
- Coordinates
- 51.95545, -2.98803
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Ferns is a house that has been converted into a hostel. It dates from the late 17th century or early 18th century, with some alterations made in the 20th century. The building is constructed from rendered sandstone rubble and features a tiled roof, with stone slates on the service wing. It has a rectangular plan that is aligned northwest to southwest, with the main entrance located to the left of the center on the northeast front. There is a main axial stack and a gable-end stack on the northwest side, while the service wing, which is single-storey, adjoins the northwest end and has an additional gable-end stack.
The northeast front has three 3-light horizontal sliding sash windows, with one on the left and two on the right. There is a gabled porch that includes a heavy wooden framed doorway with a ledged door, flanked by casement windows on the ground floor. To the right, the service wing features a small 2-light window and a larger 3-light window. At the rear, there is a surviving 2-light stone diamond mullioned window. The interior has been largely altered but still retains some chamfered ceiling beams.
Local climate
The Ferns receives an average of 900 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 67% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 56% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 49 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 91% of listed buildings. Of these, 26 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- Sale history — 1 transaction since 2007
- Related listed building consents — 2 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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