Fir Tree House

SP61NW 11/129 26/11/51

PIDDINGTON LOWER END (East side) Fir Tree House

II

House, 1693 on datestone; altered C18 and C20. Coursed squared limestone with wooden lintels; old plain-tile roof with brick gable stacks. 3-unit plan, extended to rear. 2 storeys plus attic. 3-window front, probably originally a symmetrical 5-window arrangement, has renewed 12-pane sashes with stop-chamfered lintels, except to right of the doorway where the 16-pane late C20 sash replaces a wider 3-light leaded transomed casement; central doorway with 4-panel door has a heavy frame incorporating a leaded 2-light overlight and has a segmental canopy on carved scroll brackets sheltering stucco decoration including a circular medallion with a female bust. Roof has 3 hipped roof dormers. Gable walls have small blocked windows and paired stacks. Rear has some old stop-chamfered lintels. Interior: oak dogleg stair, rising to attic, with heavy barleytwist balusters, ball finials, turned pendants and a dog gate; moulded-plank oak doors; ovolo-moulded beam on moulded bracket; large fireplace with herringbone-brick back; early-C18 painted-deal fielded panelling, bolection-moulded fireplaces and doors. Datestone over canopy inscribed "W/IE/1693", refers to John and Elizabeth Walker. (V.C.H.; Oxfordshire, Vol. V, p.250; Buildings of England: Oxfordshire, p.731).

Listing NGR: SP6408817842