Lower Woodcote Farmhouse

Farmhouse. Dating to the mid-to-late 16th century and mid-17th century, with minor alterations in the early 19th century and late 20th century. The farmhouse is timber framed with plastered infill, partially underbuilt in brick, and has plain tile roofs. The 16th-century range has a ground floor with closely spaced studs and a middle rail, and the first floor has square panels (two from bressumer to wall plate) with diagonal struts forming lozenge patterns. The 17th-century range has smaller square panels (four from girding beam to wall plate) with quatrefoils. It is a T-plan building, with a 17th-century hall range of two or three framed bays and a projecting gabled 16th-century cross wing of three or four framed bays. The hall range is two storeys and an attic, while the cross wing is two storeys high. The north-west (entrance) front has a brick ridge stack with shafting, positioned off-centre to the left, and a large external 17th-century brick end stack (English bond) to the right, featuring three diagonally-placed shafts. Two gabled eaves dormers are present to the right, each with a two-light wooden casement. The hall range has a pair of first-floor wooden cross windows to the right and a two-light wooden casement to the left. An early 19th-century six-panelled door, with a three-part Gothic overlight and small gabled porch, is located to the left. A one-storey brick lean-to is attached to the right. The cross wing to the left has a small attic and first-floor two-light wooden casements, along with a ground-floor three-light wooden casement with boarded shutters. The gable contains a collar and tie-beam truss with queen struts and V-struts. The left-hand return front of the cross wing features a jettied first floor, underbuilt to the left, with a moulded bressumer. There are three first-floor two-light wooden casements and a blocked 16th-century window to the right. A ground-floor wooden cross window with boarded shutters is positioned to the right, a three-light mullioned and transomed wooden window is off-centre to the left, and a 20th-century two-light casement is to the left. A 16th-century nail-studded boarded door, with decorative wrought-iron strap hinges, a moulded panel, straight-sided arched head with carved spandrels, and a moulded square surround, is located off-centre to the right. A 16th-century one-storey gabled porch (possibly formerly two storeys) has plain barge boards, an entrance with a moulded surround, and a small later side window. An early 19th-century one-storey rendered gabled addition adjoins to the left of the porch, featuring a segmental-headed 16-pane glazing bar sash window to the front. The rear of the cross wing has a jettied gable with a truss consisting of a cambered tie-beam, two collars, queen struts, and V-struts. The interior is known from photographs housed at NMR. A fine mid-to-late 17th-century dog-leg oak staircase rises to the attic, featuring a closed string, turned balusters, a moulded grip handrail, and square newel posts with incised halberd ornament and plumed square-section finials. A carved beam, potentially reused, is located at the head of the stairs, decorated with four dragons and some illegible lettering. Two-panelled rooms are also present. Lower Woodcote was the home of the Waring family from the 14th century to the end of the 18th century.