Lower House is a Grade II listed building in the Redditch local planning authority area, England. First listed on 28 November 1986. House. 3 related planning applications.

Lower House

WRENN ID
calm-timber-peregrine
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Redditch
Country
England
Date first listed
28 November 1986
Type
House
Source
Historic England listing

Description

This is a house dating to the late 16th century, significantly altered and refronted in the early 19th century, with further changes around 1910 and in the mid-20th century. The house is timber-framed with rendered infill on a sandstone base, incorporating brick replacement walling and refacing, and stucco. It has a roughly T-shaped plan, comprising a main three-bay east wing and a rear central range of two framed bays with a single-bay south return. The east wing's roof is tiled, partly hipped, and concealed behind a parapet with kneelers at the gable ends.

The east garden front has a chamfered plinth and a string course at both first-floor and eaves level, with a dentil eaves cornice to the rear. The central bay projects slightly and is gabled, flanked by diagonal buttresses with offsets extending above the eaves as tall, diamond-sectioned pinnacles, repeated at the gable ends. The first-floor string steps beneath the central first-floor window to form a sill string. Windows are predominantly 2-light latticed casements with drip moulds; some first-floor windows in the outer bays were removed by the time of a survey in 1985. A flat-roofed porch with a parapet and diagonal corner buttresses (matching the gable buttresses) sits centrally, featuring a 4-centred chamfered archway, a drip mould, and a half-glazed door. A cross is inscribed in the apex of the central gable.

The interior, which was not inspected, is said to contain moulded ceiling beams, close-set studding at ground floor level, and back-to-back fireplaces. The original house, prior to the 19th-century alterations, comprised three bays aligned east/west with a central chimney bay, a south return (to the service end), and a north return with a small porch wing. The east gable end likely had a shallow jetty at first-floor level and is recorded as having decorative herringbone panels above. The original structure had close-set studded timberwork throughout, suggesting a building of higher status than a simple farmhouse. A significant sandstone wall, possibly belonging to an earlier structure, has been incorporated into the building and is partly obscured by later additions to the northwest. A rainwater head inscribed with the date "1910" is present to the southeast, likely indicating restoration work.

Detailed Attributes

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