Daubneys Farmhouse

Daubneys Farmhouse

A timber-framed house of mid-16th century date, extended in the 19th and 20th centuries, located on the north side of The Street in Sheering. The building is plastered and roofed with handmade red clay tiles.

The house follows a characteristic medieval plan despite being constructed in two storeys from the outset. It is arranged in four bays aligned approximately north-east to south-west, with a service end and cross-entry at the north-east, and parlour and solar at the south-west. The timber frame employs close studding with some brick infill, jowled posts, and straight tiebeams with arched braces. An internal chimney stack of mid-16th century date stands immediately north-east of the central tiebeam against the south-east wall, leaving the cross-entry unobstructed. A second axial chimney was added north-east of the cross-entry in the 19th century, arching over to join the main stack at roof level. A third internal chimney stack was inserted at the south-west end in the 17th or 18th century. The main chimney stack carries two diagonal shafts and one plain shaft. A tiled gabled wing to the north-west, probably originally built as a stair tower, has single-storey lean-to extensions on each side. The roof is hipped with gablets at each end.

The south-east elevation features a glazed door and seven metal casement windows (three on the ground floor, four on the first floor), all dating to the 20th century. The fenestration occupies the positions of original windows and conforms to their original dimensions.

Internally, much of the original framing is exposed. The original mantel beam is elaborately roll-moulded and embattled, with a later rack for five spits. A Tudor doorhead at the rear (north-west) end of the cross-entry is carved with a cross and circles with intersecting arcs. Twin service room doors originally opened north-east of the cross-entry, now blocked by the 19th-century chimney stack, though their positions are marked by light mouldings above. The partition between these service rooms has been removed, with empty mortices in the axial beam covered by a plank. Twin unglazed windows in the north-east wall have been replaced by 20th-century windows, though their sills remain.

At the south-west end of the hall, the original parlour door survives, composed of radially cut wedge-shaped planks rebated together on ledges, with a Tudor doorhead of similar profile to that at the cross-entry. This is a rare survival. A strip of late 16th-century oak panelling forming the back of a fixed seat is also present, the seat itself having been removed. The axial beams are plain-chamfered with step stops, and joists are plastered to their soffits. Many original rebated floorboards remain in place.

On the first floor, a blocked unglazed window survives in the north-west wall of the service end, and shutter grooves for other windows replaced by 20th-century windows are visible. The original ceiling over the first floor comprises an axial beam and joists of square section, plain-chamfered with step stops, supported on clamps positioned slightly above wallplate level, an unusual constructional feature. The north-west wallplate employs an edge-halved and bridled scarf joint.

The building is transitional in type between the true medieval hall house and later two-storey forms, retaining an unusually high number of original features. Parallels exist at Colville Hall, White Roding, and the Pavilion of Felsted School, the latter bearing similar doorhead profiles.