Withersley

SO47NW 1943-1/8/111

CRAVEN ARMS ALDON Withersley

II

Farmhouse. Early/mid-C16 to north, with late-C16/early-C17 addition to south. Oak pegged timber-frame of heavy scantling with plaster and brick in-fill. Hipped corrugated-iron roof with boarded eaves over surviving thatch. Brick ridge stack. EXTERIOR: Single-storey and attic with gable to right that has moulded bressumer jettied over entrance. C19 2-light casement to gable and C19 plank door. Rear elevation has timber-framed gable to left over rubble panel. To right, gable dormer with C19 3-light casement over C19 casements. INTERIOR: Massive rubble base to chimneystack with C19 oven under chamfered bressumer. Spine beam is chamfered and with stops and joists supporting C18 floor. Framed partition, with some wattle and daub in-fill, to north end where roof is hipped, now with partial loft. C19 stair within plank enclosure with door leading to attic. Roof has single purlins, slightly curved wind braces, trusses with tie beam, short struts, collar and v-struts. Attic is boarded over, while most of the ground floor has framing exposed internally. HISTORY: Seems to have been built as an open hall in the early/mid-C16, with the shorter bay to the south added in the late-C16/early-C17, also unfloored and unheated, and with the moulded bressumer over the entrance. The partitioned north bay may have served as a smoke bay. A floor and stone fireplace were inserted into the early range around the C18. Floor in the later range is C19.

Listed as a small timber-framed C16 and later farmhouse, with an interesting if not fully understood history, relatively untouched since the C19.

Listing NGR: SO4328079330