Church Farmhouse

TM 38 SW 4/20 1.9.53

SOUTH ELMHAM ALL SAINTS CHURCH LANE ALL SAINTS & ST. NICHOLAS Church Farmhouse

GV II

Former farmhouse. Early C16, with later alterations. 2 storeys and attics. Timber-framed, plastered in panels, plaintiles. An internal chimney-stack with 4 attached sawtooth shafts. Various casement windows; 2 plank doors. The 2 bays to the north of the stack have a chamfered main beam and joists on the ground floor and a cambered tie-beam with supporting arched braces to the open truss above. On the upper surface of the tie-beam is the housing for a crown-post, and there is a similar housing in another tie-beam against the stack. The stack has 2 back-to-back hearths on the ground floor with plain timber lintels, and beside it is a very fine newel stair. The doorway linking the 2 ground floor rooms has a chamfered surround and plain arched spandrels. On the upper floor, there are cranked reversed braces at the corners and long jowls to the main posts. One 3-light and one 4-light original window with hollow-chamfer moulding to the mullions. 2 upper fireplaces: one with a timber lintel, and the brick coloured and tuck-pointed, the other with a hob grate inserted below the lintel. The upper ceilings are of later date, with joists on edge. The roof, in 7 bays, has 2 rows of butt purlins with the collars of the trusses set high, and with intermediate collars between the trusses at a lower level. This roof is clearly a replacement over the 2 northern bays. The house stands on a very large rectangular moated site, and is said to replace a former manor house.

Listing NGR: TM3299082857