Ropers Farmhouse

ILKETSHALL ST. MARGARET LOW STREET TM 38 NE 2/39 Roper's Farmhouse - GV II Farmhouse. C16, early C17, and later. Part 1½ storeys, part 2 storeys and attics: a complex building in several structural stages, the main part set sideways-on to the road. Timber-framed; part rendered, part faced in colour- washed brick; clay pantiles. Various C19 casement windows, 2-light and 3- light; one late C19 sash window. The central range has a gabled dormer with 2-light casement window to each slope of the roof. This is the oldest part of the house, with evidence for alterations, although the form of the original is not entirely clear; tie-beams have been cut, and there is an additional wall- plate and presumably a replaced roof, although this is not visible. The ground floor ceilings are rough and substantial, with plain joists and chamfered main beams with pyramid stops: all the main beams have been raised. Adjoining the central section on the north is a typical C17 parlour wing with a linking chimney-stack. The stack has a plain red brick shaft and a panel dated 1781, referring to a rebuilding, not to the original construction. Inside, the parlour has a main beam with ovolo-moulding and lamb's tongue stops, and unchamfered joists set flat; the upper ceilings, with joists set on edge, are original to the frame. Widely-spaced studs; cranked, steeply-pitched arched braces at the corners; roof with an upper row of clasped purlins, lower butt purlins, and windbraces. Newel stair beside the stack. At the south end, a C19 dairy range at right angles to the rest of the building, and 2 single- storey lean-to's on the east.

Listing NGR: TM3528885447