Northcourt

Northcourt is a farmhouse, now a house, dating back to the 17th century, with substantial remodelling in the mid-18th century. Further additions and alterations were made in the 19th century. The front of the building is limestone ashlar with chamfered quoins, while the left gable end is of roughly coursed rubble and the right gable end is of regularly coursed and dressed rubble. It has stone slate roofs. The original 17th-century house was on an L-plan with a twin-gabled range set at right angles to the rear on the left. The main range was refaced in the 18th century. A 19th-century addition is attached to the rear of the twin-gabled range, with a contemporary single-storey outbuilding projecting at right angles to the left. The house has two storeys and a gable-lit attic, with a floor band and moulded plinth. It has a five-window front with glazing bar sashes in plain surrounds with projecting keystones. The central entrance has a six-panel door with a rectangular barred overlight and a wooden segmental coved hood on brackets. An Oxfordshire County Fire Insurance plate, numbered 17462, is positioned to the right of the centre window on the first floor. Integral end stacks have moulded dripstones and capping. The left gable end has narrow rectangular windows to the attic, one with leaded lights. A dormer window with 24 panes of glazing bars sits in the roof slope to the left of the twin-gabled range. Inside, a dog-leg staircase is located in the stone-flagged central entrance hall. It has a ramped handrail and turned balusters on an open string, rising to the attic. The main range features panelled doors, window shutters and reveals. The twin-gabled range retains 17th-century plank and muntin doors with strap hinges, as well as chamfered ceiling beams and joists. Cast-iron Victorian fireplaces are on the first floor. The main range has a double-purlin collar truss roof in four bays.