Old House

This is a late medieval, T-plan hall house with a two-story cross wing to the right, located in Hunsdon. The house’s construction likely occurred in the late medieval period, as identified in the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (RCHM) typescript. A central chimney, and a stair tower with a floor, were inserted into the hall in 1681, a date recorded on the parlour fireplace lintel. Modern single-story additions have been made to the rear and at each end of the property.

The house is timber-framed and plastered, with the timber frame exposed on the west side. It has steep gabled roofs covered in old red tiles, including a gabled dormer to the front of the hall range and to the rear. A distinctive ornamental chimney, composed of conjoined lozenge-shaped shafts, is located at the junction of the wings. A tiled gabled porch is present. The hall range has a lower red brick plinth and close studding, with flush box sash windows cut into the brickwork. The large gable of the cross wing also features close studding, as well as straight tension bracing. Remnants of a wide first-floor window remain, now altered to accommodate a sash window. A collar supports the purlin roof, and two sash windows are located on the ground floor above a lower plinth. A large, 18th-century plaster cartouche is set into the gable, depicting a fountain with an armorial badge at the top. A lobby entrance is situated beside the chimney. The interior layout includes a two-bay hall to the left and a three-bay cross wing to the right. The rear bay of the wing has been partitioned on each floor, with a cellar underneath.

Inside, exposed timbers are visible, including axial, chamfered stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops and squared joists. A 18th-century pine corner cupboard is found in the hall, featuring an arched top, shaped shelves, and raised and fielded panels to the doors underneath. The cross wing has heavy cambered tie beams and close studding in a closed truss on the first floor. A separate pitched roof covers the stair tower in the angle of the wings.

Formerly known as ‘Tippings’, and later the Wheatsheaf in the later 17th century, the house was once owned by the prominent Quaker family of Wharley. It is a striking late medieval hall house with a prominent cross wing and a 17th-century central chimney.