Winnacott Farmhouse And Garden Wall To Front

Winnacott Farmhouse and Garden Wall to Front

This is a house with attached front garden wall, probably dating from the 16th century but substantially remodelled in 1668, as recorded by a datestone, for the Chapman family. A further early 20th-century extension was added. The building is constructed from rendered and painted stone rubble and cob, with a rag slate roof featuring gable ends and stone rubble axial chimney stacks.

The house is positioned on sloping ground, rising to the right, and follows a three-room and through-passage plan. The entrance is positioned left of centre. The lower end to the left is heated by an end stack; the hall is heated by an axial stack situated behind the higher side of the passage; and the inner room or parlour to the right is heated by a further axial stack on the higher side of the hall. A stair projection to the rear of the hall, positioned close to the axial stack, provides access to the chambers above the hall and lower end.

The evidence for the probable 16th-century date of the house is limited, though a round-headed timber doorframe of circa 16th-century date survives at the rear passage doorway. The house appears to have been thoroughly remodelled or partly rebuilt and re-roofed in 1668, contemporary with the plasterwork in the inner room parlour and the chamber above. The roof structure above the hall comprises two trusses, one well jointed indicating that the hall chamber roof was originally exposed and of good quality. Slight sooting on this truss probably results from a smoking chamber fireplace. The roof jointing in the inner room parlour chamber is considerably rougher, as the roof was concealed by a plaster ceiling. The lower end roof jointing is also rough, reflecting its lower status. However, sooting on the lower side of the cross wall to the rear of the axial hall stack may possibly be evidence that the 16th-century house, before the 1668 remodelling, was open to the roof. Evidence within the roof space indicates a shallow projection existed to the rear of the inner room, and the early 20th-century extension to the rear of the hall and inner room may be sited where an earlier wing once stood.

The exterior is a long, low, two-storey house with an asymmetrical five-window front. The entrance features a cranked chamfered timber doorframe forming a depressed two-centred arch with scratch moulding around the edge. A studded oak rear door to the through passage, probably of 16th-century date and of double construction, is set within an early, probably late medieval round-headed timber doorframe now encased in 19th or 20th-century work. The lower end to the left has a 20th-century glazed porch and a three-light casement. A three-light casement and a double 19th-century sash are positioned to the right. On the first floor, to the left are two 19th-century two-light casements with 17th-century chamfered timber lintels, probably with run-out stops. Three early 19th-century 16-pane sashes are positioned to the right. The left-hand gable end has been truncated, and a ground floor outshut marks the site of the original end wall. Owners report that a door opening was discovered in the higher right-hand gable end, now blocked.

The garden wall to front is a low stone rubble wall with wrought iron railings; the stiles are looped up over the top of the rail with knobed finials.

Internally, a through passage is flanked by a thick cross wall containing the hall stack on the right and a timber-boarded partition on the left, probably positioned where an earlier screen once stood. The lower end is heated by an end stack with roughly cut granite jambs and features circa 17th-century chamfered floor joists. The hall is heated by an axial stack, with the fireplace partly blocked and a Rayburn stove inserted; the ceiling is plastered. The inner room parlour contains a fine plaster overmantel with strapwork decoration and the initials of Diggory and Joan Chapman with the date 1668, together with a plaster ceiling. A stair projection to the rear of the hall near the axial hall stack has a blocked opening from the hall. The stair appears to have been replaced, though the oak door frame to the chamber above the lower end and remains of an oak doorframe to the chamber above the hall are 17th-century, chamfered with stepped and tongue stops. However, the piercing of the cross wall on the higher side of the passage to enable access from the stair projection to the chamber above the lower end is considerably rougher. A fine quality plaster overmantel to the principal chamber above the inner room parlour features strapwork decoration, probably contemporary with the overmantel below. Remains of a coved ceiling with moulded cornice continue around the feet of the principals, which project below the ceiling.

The roof structure of the lower end comprises three trusses with carpenters marks; the principals feature halved, lapped and pegged X apices, and the collars are halved, lap-jointed and pegged. Roughly cut common rafters and chamfered trenched purlins are all evidenced with possible sooting. The lower gable end wall has been partly reduced and the first truss now marks the end of the roof. The cob wall on the lower side of the axial hall stack is sooty. The hall roof comprises two trusses with halved, lapped and pegged X apices. The lower truss has a collar with a halved splayed dovetail joint with trenched purlins and is possibly sooty. The inner room roof comprises two trusses with X apices and halved lap-jointed and pegged collars of rougher finish than the hall roof.