Olives Farm House Along Track 220 Metres From Road

Olives Farm House

A timber-framed house of 15th-century date, situated along a track 220 metres from the road. The building represents an important example of early timber-framed construction with exceptional interest for its crown post roof and axial arrangement of parlour, hall and service bay beneath a single gabled roof.

The house began as a 15th-century open hall house. A floor and chimney were inserted in the early 17th century, a kitchen wing was added at the north-east in the later 17th century, the building was extended to the rear in the early 18th century, and a single-storey cellar extension was constructed at the south end in the early 19th century. The main structure is timber-framed and plastered with a steep pitched roof of old red tile and gabled ends. A red brick extension of single storey with hipped roof was added to the south in the early 19th century.

The west-facing front is of two storeys with four windows. The plan is double-pile, produced by successive additions to the original 15th-century front range. The layout of the continuous axial crown post roof indicates a two-storey parlour bay to the north of a two-bay hall, with a narrow bay for the cross passage and a wide service bay at the south end, probably of two storeys. The open truss of the hall, heavily soot-blackened, has been mutilated and the collar purlin cut for an inserted 17th-century brick chimney in the north bay. This chimney has no fireplace serving the parlour, which then became a dairy; the kitchen was subsequently built alongside in the later 17th century and was extended southward in the early 18th century to complete the double-pile plan.

The west front is partly symmetrical about the door, with one window on each side, though the northern part is more irregular with windows not in line. The windows are flush box sashes with louvred shutters and 3/6 panes on the first floor, whilst triple sashes on the ground floor have 2/2:6/6:2/2 panes. The door has a broad early 18th-century moulded and carved architrave. It is flush-panelled externally, a six-panel door with ovolo mouldings and two fillets, and has heavy iron hinges inside. A rustic gabled porch shelters it. Repairs to the north wall revealed close studding with tension bracing and long straight down bracing from the crown post to the tie beam. The north wall of the kitchen was refaced in brick and has a three-light leaded casement window on the first floor and a similar ground floor window with wooden casements. A rear door, half-glazed with heavy ovolo moulded glazing bars, has an enriched moulded architrave. A heavy eight-panelled ovolo moulded inner door with raised and fielded panels on its inner face stands beyond.

Internally, the hall fireplace is partially blocked, with two cross beams inserted to carry a later floor. Part of the east side wall has been cut away and a cast iron column inserted. Axial beams remain in both end rooms. The upper room at the north end has a lower floor level, a 17th-century axial ceiling beam with chamfered joists, and a blocked three-light window on the front wall at the north end with head mortices for diamond mullions. Signs of a corresponding window exist on the rear wall in the corner staircase. The crown posts are plain tall squares with deep curved braces to the collar purlin only. Dovetail lap joints of collars to rafters occur on the north side of each couple. Remains of a timber-framed smoke hood survive around the upper part of the brick chimney.

Historically, a John Olive obtained land in the parish in 1344. The first known owner of the house was John Shelley, a London mercer who died in 1486, holding it of Waltham Abbey. His wife's brass is in the church.