Hutchins Farmhouse

Hutchins Farmhouse

House built in the early 17th century with substantial additions and alterations spanning the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The building is timber-framed with pebble dash rendering and a 18th-century red brick front with tuck-pointed finish. The roof is peg-tiled with hipped sections. An off-centre early 17th-century cruciform shafted stack sits on a rectangular base.

The plan is U-shaped, comprising a principal range with two rear wings and a rear out-shut. A single-storey continuation of the south wing dates to the 18th century, with further 19th and 20th-century additions to this block that are not included in the listing.

Exterior

The eastern front elevation is two storeys with attics. It displays a four-window range with the front door positioned in front of the stack, slightly north of centre. A simple parapet with moulded stucco cornice and stuccoed window sills ornament the facade. Rubbed brick voussoirs frame all windows, which are sashes with thin glazing bars, predominantly 3x4 panes with painted reveals dating to the 18th century. Several windows retain hinged slats to support the upper sashes. The ground floor has a north-south aligned window and door; the door features a pedimented wooden door-case of plain Tuscan form with flat pilasters and simple frieze, though the door itself is a 20th-century replacement of six panels with a semicircular fanlight. Adjacent is a 20th-century replaced sash window to the original design. The first floor contains four identical sashes. Three hipped dormers set between the windows below project from the attic, fitted with 20th-century casement windows of two lights, 4x2 panes.

The south elevation is pebble dash rendered with a hipped roof to the east and a simple gable with stack to the west. A 20th-century three-light casement window sits at ground level, alongside a 20th-century timber and brick porch with a peg-tiled gable and waney edge boarding with side lights of 4x3 panes. The porch door comprises two glazed leaves, each 2x3 panes. The adjacent 18th-century addition includes a sash window with 4x4 panes. The first floor has an 18th-century sash window with 4x4 panes. A hipped dormer at attic level contains a two-light 20th-century casement window.

The north side elevation is pebble dash rendered beneath a hipped roof. A two-window range displays 18th-century sashes matching the front elevation; the lower pair have small cyma-moulded hoods.

The rear west elevation contains two wings with a central out-shut. The north wing has a hipped roof to the north and a simple south-facing gable at first-floor level, fitted with a 20th-century two-light casement with transom. A 20th-century flat-roofed dormer projects from the out-shut roof with a two-light metal casement window with transom. The 18th-century addition contains a sash window with 3x3 panes. No other windows appear in the rear wings.

Interior

The interior has been considerably reworked in the early 20th century. The rear out-shut was converted to a through corridor leading to a doorway on the south elevation. Extensive contemporary panelling appears on the ground floor. Room divisions have been removed and fireplaces rebuilt. The south two-bayed wing displays central posts and a tie-beam with lamb's tongue chamfer stops at first-floor level. The attics above the main range and south wing employ butt side purlin construction. Early 17th-century bricks from the stack are evident at attic level. The irregularity of the attic floor framing suggests the stair originally rose directly behind the stack.

The house originated as an early 17th-century three-celled structure with a south wing and rear out-shut, probably contemporary with the original build. The roof shape of the north wing indicates that a later alteration was intended to create a two-storey, double-depth house with hipped roofs throughout, though only part of this scheme was completed. Subsequently, various single-storey additions were constructed on the south wing instead.