Gatehouse Farmhouse

LAXFIELD TM 27 SE

4/19 Gatehouse Farmhouse -

-- II

Farmhouse. Early C16 with a small C14 core. Extended to left c.1971. Timber framed and plastered with a thatched roof. 2 storeys and attic. 3-cell form. Various casement windows, mainly C18, with C20 diamond-leaded glass. One mid C20 dormer. Internal stack rebuilt mid C20 with 2 shafts set diamondwise. 2 mid C20 doors at rear. Much good quality structure is exposed. 2-bay hall with heavy plain joists and solid arched braces between wall posts and bridging beam (one missing). Stack inserted into upper bay of hall c.1700, preceded by a smaller smoke bay, also in the upper end of the hall. One 4- centre arched service doorway remains. Plain parlour joists, one half of the ceiling raised. In rear wall of parlour, adjacent to the gable end, a blocked C14 doorway (in situ) with 2-centre arched head. The gable end wall is also C14 although the studding is lost; evidence for a ground floor window with heavy square mullions. From its position adjacent to a gable end it seems likely the doorway led into another wing or perhaps a stair tower. Hall chamber has open truss with arched-braced tie beam. Queen-post roof, originally half-hipped. The roof was partly renewed after a fire in 1971.

Listing NGR: TM2728472588