Rochetts Farmhouse

Rochetts Farmhouse

House dating from the 16th, 17th, 18th and 20th centuries, constructed of timber-framing and brick with a peg-tiled roof. The building follows a double cranked plan with a principal range, a rear cross-wing projection at the west end, and a forward projection with further addition at the east end.

The north-facing front elevation is of brick, colourwashed, with two storeys. It contains a three-window range on the ground floor with two outer windows featuring segment heads and 20th-century three-light casements with glazing bars in three-by-three-pane configuration. A central door sits within a doorcase with flush panelled, bead-decorated reveals and a six-panel door. A simple lean-to tiled porch on brackets stands in front. Two brick buttresses on the ground floor exist as a result of war damage. The first floor has a central two-light casement with glazing bars in two-by-four-pane arrangement. To the west is a similar casement with a segment head and 19th-century shaped barge boards above the cross-wing gable. To the east a similar window with a flat head sits beneath a facade gable with shaped barge boards. A central 19th-century stack rises through this elevation.

The east projecting wing is brick with a peg-tiled hipped roof and a single 20th-century two-light casement window with a segment head and glazing bars in two-by-four-pane pattern.

The rear south elevation of the principal block is brick, colourwashed, with a three-window range on the ground floor. To the west, in the angle with the cross-wing, stands a doorway with a segment head, lower boarded panel and upper glazing with glazing bars in three-by-three-pane arrangement. To the east are two windows, both with segment heads and three-light casements with glazing bars in three-by-four-pane configuration. The first floor contains three similar windows with flat heads and three-by-two-pane glazing. The roof is hipped at the east end with an 18th-century stack, rebuilt in the 20th century and visible on the end wall. Two lean-tos with hipped roofs in flat tiles have 20th-century doors with lower boarded panels and two upper glazed panels. The west projecting brick cross-wing has upper and lower three-light casement windows with glazing bars—the upper in three-by-two-pane and the lower with a segment head in three-by-three-pane configuration. A stack showing on the west end wall displays 19th and 20th-century brickwork.

The west end elevation presents a plain cross-wing with a stack. To the east, a 19th-century brick wing rebuilt in the 20th century as a result of war damage projects to the north. A ground-floor door sits under a simple lean-to hood with flush lower panels and upper glazing with glazing bars in three-by-three-pane arrangement, alongside a plain fixed window. The first floor has a three-light casement window with glazing bars in three-by-three-pane pattern and above it a 19th-century facade gable with shaped barge boards; the roof is hipped at the north end.

The east elevation shows the east cross-wing with a stack and two 20th-century ground-floor additions with hipped roofs at the stack base. To the north stands a 20th-century garage with a peg-tiled lean-to roof to the 19th-century block.

Interior: Though considerably rebuilt, timber-framed units remain evident. The west cross-wing comprises two bays with jowled posts and an original central partition visible on the first floor, featuring step-stopped chamfers and tension bracing. The roof is of wind-braced side purlin form. The central block's ground floor contains a passage with opposing doors implying the site of the cross-passage behind the present front door. The upper floor was raised to two storeys in the timber phase, probably in the 17th century. A central stack, likely provided at the same time, is now much altered. The east cross-wing comprises two bays with wall plates featuring edge-halved and bridled scarf joints and a simple, undecorated central crown-post with thin two-way bracing. Although of differing construction, the east and west cross-wings may be close in date—mid-16th century—with the east wing being the earlier. A ground-floor central hall originally existed, though only its plan remains in the later structure.

Rochetts Farmhouse and the associated barn form a group.