Oldberrow Court

Oldberrow Court is a house, now a farmhouse, dating from the early to mid 16th century. It features a cross wing on the right, a central range and rear wing from the late 16th and 17th centuries, and a mid-19th century cross wing on the left. The building is timber framed; the right wing has close studding with brick nogging and plaster infill, while the central range and rear wing have brick infill. The left wing is of red brick with a plinth and string course of red and blue bricks, with a rendered first floor and attic. The roof is tiled, with some areas coated in bitumen, and incorporates brick, stone and brick stacks.

The house’s layout is L-shaped, extended to a T-shape with a rear wing and cross wings to the front. The main facade, a three-window range, has a 19th-century plank door under a segmental brick arch, within a simple brick porch with a tile roof. Other windows are mostly 19th-century painted latticed casements. The right wing features heavy, chamfered stone mullioned windows with corbelled sills, a three-light window on the first floor and a two-light window to the attic. The first floor and attic pargeting displays a design of stylised stalks and leaves. The left wing has an external stack with two diagonally-set square shafts, and windows under segmental brick arches leading to a dairy.

Inside, much of the original timber framing is exposed. A room in the 16th-century cross wing contains a fireplace with a chamfered beam. The hall houses a former open fireplace with a decayed 15th-century traceried wood overmantel and 17th-century panelling, both likely brought in from elsewhere. A two-panelled door with an L-hinge is beside the fireplace, and both rooms have ogee stop-chamfered ceiling beams. The kitchen’s fireplace has a bread oven. The first floor has a jowled post. Also present are plank, two-panelled and 17th-century six-panelled doors and winder stairs. The dairy retains slate slabs. A massive crow-stepped external brick stack is on the rear wing gable. A detached outbuilding is located at the rear left corner.