Park Farmhouse

TM 07 SW WATTISFIELD THE STREET (EAST SIDE)

3/98 Park Farmhouse

GV II

Former farmhouse. C15, with alterations of circa 1600. Timber-framed; C20 render, pargetted in panels; thatch. 1½ storeys, 3-cell form, with a small projecting C18 single-storey wing to the right of the front. The main range in 6 bays has an internal chimney-stack with a plain rebuilt red brick shaft; 2 eyebrow dormers; C20 casement windows with square leaded panes and a reinstated 6-light hall window. On the upper floor, 2 small 2-light mullioned windows, and an original 3-light window with diamond mullions on the rear wall. C20 boarded entrance door. Inside, the former 2-bay open hall retains its smoke-blackened crown-post roof: the crown-post, braced 4 ways at the head, with moulded cap and square chamfered shaft, has had its base and part of the supporting tie-beam cut away for the insertion of a doorway when the hall was ceiled over. Long arched braces to the tie-beam. At the lower end of the hall, a plank-and-muntin screen divided off the cross-passage; chimney- stack with 2 back-to-back hearths inserted against the upper end partition. The ceiling over the hall, which may be later in date than the stack, has main cross-beams and joists set flat, all with chamfer and curved'stepped stops, and a stair trap, now filled in, an unusual feature in a hall ceiling (cf. Swan Cottage, Lawshall, Suffolk). Plain cambered lintel to fireplace, now with C20 ornamentation on soffit. The parlour end is a late C16 addition: on ground floor, unchamfered joists set flat and a chamfered main beam without stops; plain cambered fireplace lintel; stair trap in ceiling, now blocked, indicates that the parlour is earlier than the inserted hall ceiling. Arched braces to tie-beam in room above; 2 small reinstated diamond-mullioned windows, and a 4-light late C17/early C18 mullion and transome window inserted into the gable end: square section moulded mullions, intermediate bars; one small opening casement with ornate hinges; square leaded panes. The medieval service rooms were replaced by a single 2-bay room in the later C17: the widely-spaced joists rest on clamps.

Listing NGR: TM0095873921