Boyton Hall Farmhouse

Boyton Hall Farmhouse is a house dating from the mid-16th century, with alterations made around 1600 and in the 20th century. It is timber framed and plastered, with a roof made of handmade red clay tiles. The house has five bays facing northwest, featuring an axial stack at the left end and a three-bay crosswing extending to the rear, which was added around 1600. There is also a stair tower in the rear angle from the same period and a single-storey extension to the left of the crosswing from the 20th century. The main range has two storeys, while the crosswing has two storeys and an attic. The building includes a three-window range of 20th-century casements and a door in a gabled porch, also from the 20th century. The main stack has six octagonal shafts, which have been rebuilt at the top and serve four hearths. The left gable features original bargeboards with a carved guilloche design.

Inside, the farmhouse has jowled posts and heavy studding with curved braces that are trenched to the inside. The original main doorway, which has a four-centred head, is blocked. The beams and joists are chamfered, with horizontal sections and step stops. On the ground floor, the hearth facing to the right has ovolo-moulded brickwork above the mantel beam, which was originally plastered but is now stripped, revealing a trace of a former painted text in 16th-century lettering and some new brickwork. On the first floor, there are two hearths with depressed arches and recessed spandrels; one retains its original moulded plaster while the other has been stripped. There is also a moulded four-plank door, all dating from around 1600. The stair tower contains the original stair, featuring two octagonal newels with square finials, moulded rails, and uniquely moulded straight balusters. The roof of the main range is constructed with crownpost and thin axial braces, while the crosswing has a clasped purlin construction. The house was originally built as a two-storey structure with a medieval plan, including a wide screens passage, a two-bay hall, and a two-bay service end. It has developed in an unusual manner, with a stack inserted at the high end to form a lobby entrance, and the three-bay crosswing replacing the original parlour or solar bay. The farmhouse is set on a moated site.