Ivy Lodge

Ivy Lodge is a house originally built as a farmhouse in the latter part of the 16th century, with a stack inserted in the 17th century and an additional mid-19th century range. A late 20th-century extension is excluded from the listing.

Materials and Construction

The original western range was timber-framed, with the frame largely surviving in the rear part of the range. The front parts of this range appear to have been rebuilt in brick, now painted, and the range has a tiled roof. Above the present central bay rises the brick stack, with its capping rebuilt. The north wall of the outshut is of stone. The mid-19th century range is of rendered brick, the brick being visible though painted on the north-west elevation. The roofs over this part are also tiled; the two original stacks have been removed. All windows are 20th or early 21st-century timber replacements.

Plan

The 16th-century range forms a rectangle aligned north-west to south-east, but described here as west to east for clarity. An outshut runs along the north elevation. The mid-19th century range joins the 16th-century range at its east end and extends northwards, forming an inverted L-plan overall. At the junction of the two ranges, a small vertical addition was probably made in the late 19th or early 20th century, adding a first-floor closet to the mid-19th century range and a dormer window in the original range. At the north end of the mid-19th century range is the late 20th-century lean-to extension, spanning the range's width.

Exterior

The original 16th-century range is three bays wide and two storeys high. The south-facing front elevation has seen considerable change. In what is now the central bay, the ground-floor area thought originally to have contained the principal doorway was filled in by the 1920s, with a window inserted in the space by the 1950s and a central window opening inserted in the space above. The windows to either side have been altered and now have wide horizontal openings containing multi-pane casement frames. The roof forms a catslide over the northern outshut, which appears to have undergone extensive rebuilding. The western section of the rear wall is of exposed stone, showing no trace of the projection marked on Ordnance Survey maps; the eastern part is of brick. A new door has been inserted between the two sections, and an earlier doorway on the west elevation is blocked.

The mid-19th century range has been considerably altered and is of lesser interest. Though also of two storeys, this section is higher than the original range, its western wall rising abruptly above the ridge of the older building at the point where the original roof hip descended to the east. On the south elevation, some of the 19th-century render survives, incised to resemble ashlar. The entrance is protected by a late 20th-century porch, above which is a late 20th-century oculus. The two bow windows are also late 20th-century, replacing the original sashes. On the eastern elevation all openings have been altered: there are 21st-century French doors, an inserted bow window at first-floor level, and a replacement canted bay to the ground floor. To the west, the altered window openings contain casement frames. The addition in the angle between the ranges has a small first-floor window lighting a closet, with a dormer light to the bathroom. At the north end of the mid-19th century range, the roof descends in a catslide over the late 20th-century extension, excluded from the listing.

Interior: 16th-Century Range

The 16th-century range now has two rooms on each floor, with the present central bay largely occupied by the substantial stack. On the ground floor, the former central lobby is now a passageway between the rooms.

Ground Floor

To the south-east, the present dining room has a large ingle fireplace with rebuilt interior brickwork. The fireplace's bressumer may be a replacement. A transverse beam running in front of the fireplace is thought to have served as the eastern bressumer for the smoke-bay. Met by a central axial beam, the bressumer is chamfered to the east with scroll stops to either side of the axial beam. The northern end of the bressumer, which rests on a post with an integral bracket, has a scroll stop to the eastern side. The south end of the bressumer is embedded in the rebuilt front wall. The axial beam is chamfered with runout stops at both ends. At the eastern side of the room the axial beam meets the half beam, which is chamfered with a scroll stop at the north end; the south end has been cut to create a doorway to the mid-19th century range. The joists in the northern part of the room are probably replacements.

In the western room, currently the sitting room, the interior of the fireplace is rebuilt and rendered. The space to the north of the stack—the likely position of the stair following the stack's insertion, and more recently occupied by a stove—is now a cupboard. The principal timbers within this room appear not to be original: the bressumer with an additional horizontal timber above, and an axial beam.

The original timber-framed rear wall is partly visible within the sitting room and within the rear outshut. The head beam above is reinforced to the south side. In the sitting room a stone plinth is visible, above which are widely-spaced posts with braces partially obscured by render; the timbers are of relatively slight scantling. To the east of the stack within the outshut, there is a panel of close-studding, probably reflecting the higher status of the eastern room. Above the head beam, the bottom part of the first-floor large framing is visible. The majority of the sill beam has been replaced.

First Floor

On the first floor within the original range, the narrowly-placed studs of the rear wall are visible in the western room. The frame is also visible in the rear part of what is now the easternmost bay of the original range, where posts support the wall plate, which is chamfered with a scroll stop to the east end. The central post is a recent addition. The eastern end, at the former junction with the lost easternmost bay where the roof hip would have descended, is marked by a joweled post.

The present easternmost bay is now partitioned, creating two bathrooms, with a straight-cut stop-chamfered axial beam visible in the south-east room. The tie beams are visible on the first floor dividing the bays, with planked doors beneath. In the western room the axial beam is a replacement. The central bay is largely occupied by the slope of the stack. To the rear the 17th-century brickwork of the stack is exposed within what was formerly the first-floor part of the smoke-bay. The framing survives to the eastern side, with the appearance of smoke blackening to the timber.

The roof structure of the original range to the east of the stack has collars and clasped purlins with curved windbraces beneath; the rafters are morticed and tenoned at the apex. The structure is pegged. At the east end of the southern slope, a rafter has been cut to allow for the insertion of the dormer window, now removed. To north and south of the stack are newer rafters, supporting the theory that this space was originally an open smoke-bay. A little to the west of this on the southern slope, there appear to be signs of smoke-blackening, suggesting the escape of smoke from the confines of the smoke-bay. The roof section to the west of the stack was not fully accessible, but the hipped structure appears to survive well with some replacement of timbers.

Interior: Mid-19th Century Range

The main entrance within the mid-19th century range leads into an entrance passage in which the stair rises straight against the eastern wall of the original range. The stair appears to be original, of open-string form with shaped brackets to the treads, stick balusters and turned newel posts. Cupboards have recently (2019) been fitted beneath the stair. There is a plain four-panel door to the dining room in the original range, and another in the doorway to the south-east room with a tripartite over-door light. Upstairs there are four-panel or planked doors, also with overdoor lights. Few other historic features remain within this part of the building.

On the ground floor the whole of the range, apart from the entrance passage, has been opened out to create a single space, which now includes the late 20th-century extension (the extension being excluded from the listing). The chimneybreast to the south remains; the chimneybreast to the north has been removed. The first-floor room at the north end of the house is now linked with the double-height space of the late 20th-century lean-to extension by large windows. The roof over the mid-19th century range was not fully inspected, but the 19th-century structure survives over the southern section.