Shear Farm and stable

Shear Farm and Stable

A farmhouse originating in the late 16th or early 17th century, partially rebuilt and enlarged in the early 19th century, with an adjoining stable of similar age.

The early part of the house is timber-framed with brick nogging and a sandstone ashlar and brick chimneystack; one elevation is red brick laid in Flemish bond. The later phases are constructed from a mixture of rubble and dressed stone in sandstone and limestone. The roof is tiled with brick chimneystacks.

The historic farmstead was arranged in a loose courtyard plan, with the farmhouse at the south-east corner, pigsties 8 metres to the west, stables 6 metres to the north, and barns enclosing the west and north sides of the courtyard.

The farmhouse has an irregular footprint. A square-plan timber-framed wing stands at the east, abutted by a roughly L-shaped stone building. The main range runs east-west with a wing projecting at the north-west end. Modern extensions on the north and west elevations are excluded from the listing. The timber-framed structure contains a single cell on each floor, extended to the north. The stone-built main range has three principal rooms on the ground floor: the main sitting room (amalgamated with the former stair hall), and an open-plan kitchen and dining room including the north-west wing. The main stair has been moved into the modern extension to the north. The historic plan-form remains legible on the first floor.

The timber-framed and brick range to the east is two storeys and an attic beneath a pitched roof. The south gable end is constructed from seven bays of small box-framing with diagonal corner struts and brick nogging. Each ascending storey projects slightly, and the wall plates are chamfered and moulded. Moulded consoles appear beneath the ground-floor window and at the angles of the eaves. Windows are multiple-light casements occupying the central three bays of the frame on the ground and first floors, with a smaller window in the attic. A deeply-projecting stone chimneystack rises externally on the east elevation; the top has ornate Jacobean star-plan stacks. The box-framing continues across the elevation and on the right adjoins the brick-built northern elevation. There is a brick outshut to the ground floor. The northern gable end has segmental-arched window openings with a variety of casement types, and an oeil-de-boeuf in the attic.

The main east-west range and north-west wing are built in stone. The principal elevation faces south, flush with the timber-framed range, with its pitched roof crossing at a right angle. It is four bays wide, the left-hand three of which appear to have been built in a single phase as a symmetrical composition. This section has a central doorway with windows to either side, all with segmental-arched heads; the openings are repeated on the first floor with flat brick-faced lintels. Windows are a mixture of timber and metal three-light casements with horizontal glazing bars. Chimneystacks bookend the three bays, that on the right being particularly wide. The fourth, right-most bay adjoins the timber-framed wing and has a window to each floor similarly detailed, though in narrower openings; there is a cellar beneath this bay. The north-west wing projects perpendicularly from the main range. Windows are similarly detailed with brick-lined segmental arches. The northern gable end has large stone quoins and sandstone walls to the ground floor, above which it appears to be built in limestone.

On the north elevation, at the junction between the main range and north-west wing, is a late 20th-century extension incorporating parts of an earlier structure. A 21st-century extension stands on the western gable end. These two elements are excluded from the listing.

Internally, the timber-framed structure at the eastern end is exposed, and is a single cell to each floor with some reconfiguration on the north side. The relatively wide timbers and deeply-chamfered beams suggest a late 16th or early 17th-century date. The timber frame provides evidence of having been extended or rebuilt on the north: jowled corner posts (one concealed or removed by a later bread oven) indicate the probable original building line, and there is a blocked doorway adjacent to the existing doorway into the hall. The box-framed partition to the hall bears scars suggesting it has been truncated. A deep, dressed-stone fireplace with a brick bread oven is set to the left-hand-side. In the first-floor bedroom the fireplace is similar, though has brick above the lintel. The box-framing continues on the first floor and into the attic. In the attic the queen-post truss is exposed on the northern side, and there is a single rank of deep purlins; an opening has been created between the posts creating a doorway to the bathroom. Rafters on the western side of the roof have been removed to link with the void loft space of the main range, the pitched roof of which is at a perpendicular angle; the gable end has a truss with raking struts and studs above the tie, and an opening into the adjacent loft (which was inaccessible and not inspected).

The ground-floor study, adjacent to the timber-framed wing, has fair-faced framing exposed on the party wall. One of the panels is infilled with wattle. The large main sitting room has been united with a central stair hall; the partition has been removed and the stair reconstructed in the northern extension. There is a wide, brick-lined fireplace with a deep timber lintel. The kitchen and dining room likewise have been opened-up from a series of smaller rooms in the northern wing. There is a brick fireplace in a segmental-arched opening, and a box-framed partition to the former stair hall.

On the first floor of the main range there are a number of exposed deep timber cross- and spine-beams. The house has several ledge and plank doors with wrought iron catches and hinges.

The stable stands to the north of the farmhouse. It is also constructed from small box-framing, which survives well on the east elevation and the internal partition between the two cells. The west elevation and the gable ends have undergone some rebuilding. The southern cell has a brick-lined floor, and the north is concrete. The ceiling appears to have been lowered, probably during the conversion of the hayloft to domestic accommodation. Some historic timbers remain on the first floor.