North Clays Farmhouse

North Clays Farmhouse

A timber-framed farmhouse with 17th-century origins or earlier, comprising multiple later building phases. The principal house is two storeys high, timber framed with the ground floor rebuilt or encased in red brick, and the first floor weather-boarded. The roof is clay tile with gable ends. Windows and doors are timber throughout.

The house faces south with an approximately central entrance and a two-room plan under a pitched roof. A stack stands to either side: the western stack is larger and projects from the gable end with its lower part encased within an outshut, while the eastern stack is a ridge stack, less substantial and contained within the footprint of the east bay. The roof continues as a catslide over outshuts to the rear (north) and west, with two secondary stacks positioned to the north and west.

The front elevation shows red brick to the ground floor and weather boarding to the first. An off-centre timber planked door with segmental head provides the main entrance. Brickwork to the east of the door is laid in Flemish bond, while that to the west, extending to the west outshut, is stretcher bond. Three-light casement windows with glazing bars flank the door on both ground and first floors, with an additional single-light casement in the west bay at ground level. Ground floor windows have segmental heads.

The west and north elevations are dominated by outshut brickwork showing at least three building campaigns. The rear brickwork appears 18th or 19th century with a straight joint indicating separate builds for each of the two internal rooms. The western brickwork is probably 20th century. A stout external stack to the north shows evidence of expansion. A small timber porch of late 20th-century date stands at the north east corner.

The east elevation contains a blocked doorway, now a window, in the end of the outshut, and a window lighting the room above. Small windows lighting the attic occupy both east and west gable ends.

Internally, the ground floor plan comprises a central entrance lobby and straight transverse stair partitioned from the west room. The outshut to the rear contains two interconnecting rooms; both rear and west outshuts are accessed through the west room. On the first floor, the east room is partitioned to create a hallway running along the original back wall, providing access to a winder stair to the attic adjacent to the east stack, and to one of two rooms in the north outshut.

The two principal ground floor rooms both have exposed ceiling frames with unchamfered floor joists jointed into transverse bridging beams with stops and chamfers. The joists rest on top of the girding beams. The internal girding beam in the cross-frame between the two rooms has empty mortice sockets facing into the east room. The east room shows floor frame alteration, most likely relating to the position of a later stair now removed. A large square fireplace with timber bressumer has been altered, the reveals pierced on both sides with square openings.

The west room contains a large stone and brick inglenook fireplace with timber bressumer, a bench seat on one side of the opening, and evidence of a bricked-up oven to the back. The north outshut comprises two interconnected rooms of different builds, with the east room having a jettied brick hood relating to the external stack. The west outshut is open to the underside of the roof, which is boarded out with narrow timber sarking boards. Structural timbers here are a mixture of older and reused timbers and timbers of probable 20th-century date.

The two principal first floor rooms also have exposed ceiling frames but with structural arrangement at 90 degrees to that below. Unchamfered floor joists are jointed into axial ceiling beams with stops and chamfers, arranged asymmetrically with beams staggered: the eastern beam positioned approximately 3 feet from the front wall, the western beam approximately 3 feet from the back wall. Jowl posts are visible in each corner and in the posts of the cross-frame. Various other framing components are visible, including some which appear reused or ex-situ, and some relating to later subdivision and insertion of the current stair. A fragment of a curved down brace collides with an inserted door in the cross-frame and two more survive partially in the back wall, now enclosed to the north by the upper rooms under the catslide. The wall plate includes empty mortice sockets and the diamond socket of a window mullion. The east room has notably wide floorboards.

The door to the attic stair is formed of wide heavy planks with forged iron strap hinges. The underside of the roof is partially boarded out in hardboard. A central queen post truss and intermediary collar stand in each of the two bays, the collars carrying clasped purlins. Visible common rafters are of light scantling and meet at the apex without a ridge piece. Additional collars have been nailed across some pairs of rafters near the apex. The apex over the east bay appears to have been rebuilt in parts, with rafters formed of several jointed timbers. Some rafters show evidence of missing or altered framework.

Internal doors are mainly plank and batten of various ages, including those appearing 20th century and those likely pre-18th century.