Herkstead Green Farmhouse

TL 63 NE STEEPLE BUMPSTEAD 4/7 Herkstead Green 25/3/1980 Farmhouse

II

House, C16 and C17, altered in C20. Timber framed, plastered, roofed with handmade red clay tiles. Mid-C16 3-bay crossswing aligned approx. N-S, with C17 3-bay range to W, forming an L-plan. C17 lean-to stair tower in SW angle. Axial chimney stack at the junction, C17. 2 storeys. At the time of survey, October 1983, the building was in course of renovation and no doors or windows were fitted. Jowled posts, heavy studding. The crosswing has additional jowls at first floor level, plain-chamfered binding and bridging beams with step stops, joists of horizontal section, curved tension braces trenched inside the studs, short arched braces to one inner tiebeam. The E wall has a face-halved scarf bladed at one end and housed at the other (Hewett 1980, figure 269), with an unglazed window of 3 diamond mullions in situ. The roof is of clasped purlin construction with high collars and curved wind bracing. The E-W range has re- used studs in the walls and some re-used smoke-blackened rafters, and probably replaces an open hall on the same site. The axial beams are plain-chamfered with die-away stops. Both wallplates have face-halved and bladed scarfs. The roof is of clasped purlin construction without wind bracing. The chimney stack has a large wood-burning hearth to the W and a smaller hearth with rounded rear angles to the E.

Listing NGR: TL6745838344