Shenley Dens Farmhouse

Shenley Dens Farmhouse

Farmhouse of mid to late 18th-century date, with alterations made around 2000. The building is constructed of brick laid in Flemish bond, with rendered front elevations. It has a clay tiled pitched roof with brick chimneys at either end of the main range. The house comprises two storeys with a basement and attics to the south range, which also has single storey additions with pitched roofs at either end. A slightly shorter range stands to the rear, set off centre to the main range, with three pitched gabled roofs to the north.

The main south-facing elevation displays three bays arranged in classical symmetry, with a central pedimented bay. Decorative features include a semicircular blank recess at second floor level within the pediment and a flat first floor band. The central entrance doorway has a semicircular fanlight with a petal design, now fitted with a plank door; a porch appears to have been removed. The door is flanked by tripartite windows with glazing bar sashes set in reveals with cills. The first floor contains Venetian windows, with the central window being a twelve-paned sash. These windows were replaced around 2000 when this elevation was rendered, though the original openings remain intact. Two dormers break the roofline, both fitted with 19th-century two-light casements, and cellar windows are visible below ground floor level. Single storey rendered wings flank either end of this elevation; the west wing has a blank recess to the front and a door to the rear, whilst the east wing has a 19th-century sash and a wide blocked doorway to the rear. The side elevations feature moulded brick eaves. The rear elevation has three two-storey gables with mostly 20th-century replacement windows. A quantity of roof timbers survives intact.

The interior of the south range comprises a central lobby with rooms on either side. Both rooms have doors with six raised and fielded panels and L-hinges, although two doors have been removed. Each room contains a chamfered ceiling beam with ogee stops at one end only; the east room has an inglenook fireplace with a bressumer, while the fireplace in the west room has been removed. The staircase between these rooms is an early to mid-18th-century dogleg staircase with a moulded handrail, ramped where it turns at the landing. It is constructed as an open string stair with tread ends carved with a floral motif, turned balusters (two to each tread), and fluted newels. At the time of inspection, only the newels and tread ends survived in place; the remainder had been salvaged following vandalism and was held in storage. This staircase is very similar to one dating from 1728 located a few miles away.

The rear wing contains an entrance lobby and cloakroom, and a large room known as the 'ballroom', which at the time of inspection was undergoing renovation. It contains several steel joists and one ceiling beam; the unplastered walls expose bonding timbers.

The balustrade continues around the first floor landing. On the north side are two semi-circular arched openings with moulded architraves, keyblocks and imposts, flanking a panelled door that leads to the attic stair. The two front bedrooms contain ceiling beams and all doors are six-panelled. The two front attics have been recently renovated with new plasterboard walls; the purlins remain visible. The roofs to the rear retain some of their original timbers, including purlins, raking struts and wind braces, although many of the rafters have been replaced.

The cellars contain chamfered beams, which are recycled and thought to be of 17th-century date, supporting floor joists.

A map of the Salden Estate dating from 1599 shows the site of Shenley Dens as a field in the ownership of the Earl de Grey. The first evidence for a house at this location appears on Thomas Jeffreys' map of 1770, although it is not clearly identified as a farm until 1814. A map of that date, recording the property of William Selby Lowndes, owner of the Whaddon Estate, identifies Shenley Dens (or Devils Den Farm as it is named on the map) as belonging to the estate and is the first map to accurately represent field and property boundaries. The farm's present farm buildings appear to date to the later 19th century. Historic Ordnance Survey maps show that the plan of the house and farmyard have changed little since 1885.

The Whaddon Estate was purchased in 1698 from the trustees of the Duke of Buckingham by Thomas Willis and James Selby, the greater part going to Selby, although Willis retained part of Whaddon Hall. James Selby's son Thomas left the estate to his friend William Lowndes, who took the name of Selby. The name of Lowndes was joined to that of Selby in 1813, the year before the 1814 map mentioned above. In the 18th century Browne Willis rebuilt the hall, which came to the Selby family in the latter part of that century; the present Whaddon Hall was built in 1802. Whaddon Hall is visible from Shenley Dens, standing on high ground across the valley. In the 19th century, a short avenue of trees running north from Whaddon Hall appears to have been aligned on the farmhouse.

To the rear is a courtyard surrounded by single storey 19th-century farm buildings; these are not of special interest and are not included in the listing.