Slough Farm

Slough Farm

A farmhouse of early to mid-16th-century date with subsequent later phases of development.

The building is timber-framed and clad in later brick, with a clay tile roof. Doors are timber and windows are uPVC. The house is oriented south-east facing and stands two storeys tall, except for a single-storey extension to the south which includes an attic space. The principal roof is hipped, with later additions featuring gables.

The early house comprises four structural bays. A pair of opposing doors in the east and west elevations within the second bay to the south may be vestiges of a cross-passage, now separated by a large internal brick stack. This stack opens into the central bays, the likely position of the original open hall, now a dining room. The bay division to the north, marking the upper end of the hall, appears to be in situ, with the north bay now divided into a stair lobby and pantry. On the first floor, the north bay is divided between stair landing and bathroom, while the hall bays form two bedrooms.

A cross wing projecting to the east, dating to about 1700, extends from the two northernmost bays and contains a single room on each floor. It features a large external stack on its south flank wall. To the south, the end of the early house has been opened up with a 19th-century extension. Much of the southern bay is occupied by a large brick stack built against the back of the earlier one, opening into the extension, now the kitchen. The attic space above the kitchen is reached by a 20th-century stair. Several small lean-tos exist to the rear.

The exterior displays three distinct phases. The early house is clad in later yellow brick with a deep hipped roof, a gablet to the north of the ridge, and a chimney stack to the south. The red-brick parlour cross-wing of about 1700 has a gable end and a substantial shouldered external stack. The 19th-century gable-ended extension to the south is in line with the early house but with a lower roof. About half of the east front of the early house is masked by the parlour wing. The parlour wing has a single window to the east on each floor, both under segmental arches. Ground-floor windows of the early house are found only to the rear and have heavy lintels, whereas first-floor windows are tucked beneath the eaves. The only visible external timber frame element is the south-east corner post; the opposing post to the south-west is visible within a later rear lean-to.

The interior is entered at the east side of the large inserted stack facing the two central bays. The floor frame in the central bays is exposed and comprises a spine beam embedded into the stack to the south and into the bay division to the north. Floor joists span between the spine beam and the east and west walls, visibly resting on the girding beam of the east wall. The beam and joists are chamfered and stopped. The chamfers and stops on the spine beam stop short of the stack, and a filled mortice socket at this point aligns with several filled mortice sockets in the adjacent joist to the east, which is also un-chamfered. The next joist to the south is also un-chamfered and rougher in character. This evidence suggests a missing feature, perhaps a baffle or screen, possibly the location of a former stair. Large square-framed panels of the timber frame are visible in the east wall.

The north bay is entered through a wide moulded plank door, possibly contemporary with the stair of about 1700. The stair is straight with a wind at the top and a balustrade of turned vase balusters, a wide moulded handrail and square newels. At first floor, the rooms are ceiled to collar height and the lower part of a queen-post truss is visible in the north bay division. Sections of wall plate and bay posts are visible in some areas.

The south bay is predominantly occupied by a later stack, but at ground floor the girding beam of the end wall is exposed in the kitchen ceiling. Empty mortice sockets indicate lost wall framing, and a diagonal inset in the south face of the beam indicates a missing down-brace. In the attic room above, the corner posts and wall plate of the early frame are visible, the plate also displaying empty mortice joints on the underside.

The cross wing to the east has a single room at each floor. The ground-floor room has a substantial east-west spine beam with deep chamfers and stops. The floor joists are ceiled over.