Priory Farmhouse

HEYTHROP SP32NW 4/83 Priory Farmhouse

II

Farmhouse. Probably C16 and C17, possibly incorporating medieval elements; altered C19 and C20. Part-coursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings; Stonesfield-slate roof with ashlar stacks. L plan. 2 storeys plus attic. 3-window front of main range has original 2-light stone-mullioned windows in the middle bay, but has C19 mullioned windows in the outer bays and in the short wing which projects from the left; entrance between bays one and 2 has a C19/C20 stone porch and there is a second rubble porch in the angle of the ranges. Wing, which is probably C17, is of squared rubble with a chamfered plinth. Steep-pitched roof has 2 ridge stacks over the main range and a gable stack on the wing, all with moulded caps and plinths. Sides and rear have further renewed mullioned windows, all with lattice glazing. Interior: main range has heavy chamfered cross beams, morticed for wide joists, which are probably late medieval and may be insitu; an open fireplace has a cambered bressumer, and a Tudor-arched stone fireplace has recessed spandrels and ogee mouldings, repeated in a similar chamber fireplace. Wing has intersecting chamfered beams and an open fireplace. Butt-purlin roof has cambered collars. The house is on the site of Cold Norton Priory, a smell Augustinian foundation, the ruins of which are shown beside the house in a Buck engraving of 1729. Priory Farm was until 1985 in the Civil Parish of Over Norton. (Buildings of England: Oxfordshire: p541)

Listing NGR: SP3361628110