Churchtown

Farmhouse, now house, at Churchtown, Botus Fleming. Probably late 16th or early 17th century, with additions and alterations of the 19th century and some 20th century changes.

The building is constructed of slatestone rubble, partly rendered, with granite dressings. It has a scantle slate roof with ridge tiles, a gable end to the right and a hipped end to the left. The original stack at the right end has been removed. There is a front lateral stack to the inner room to the right with rendered shaft and shaped top, and a rear lateral hall stack with rendered shaft and shaped top.

The plan shows that what remains is probably the main range of a formerly larger building, with a 3-room and cross passage plan. The lower end room to the left is unheated, probably with the end wall rebuilt without a stack. A winder stair has been inserted at the front of the lower end room, probably in the 18th or 19th century. The hall is to the right of the passage, heated by a rear lateral stack and with a stair tower to the right of the stack. The inner room is at the end to the right, with a gable end fireplace, though this appears never to have been used at ground floor level. A second stack was inserted in the front, with the fireplace in the front corner of the room. Probably in the 18th or 19th century, a single storey stable or outhouse was added to the lower left end, forming an L-plan; in the early 20th century this was raised in height to give an additional room at first floor.

The exterior is of 2 storeys with a nearly symmetrical 4-window front, with rough quoins rebuilt at the right end. The first floor has four 3-light granite windows with chamfered mullions, roll-moulded surround and 20th century leaded casements. The ground floor has a 3-light window to the left with plain hood mould and the same mullions and surround. The passage doorway is in granite with a 4-centred arch, recessed spandrels with roundels, roll-moulding with rounded stops and a studded door, probably the original, with a 20th century slate hood. The doorway has a dripstone remaining from the original hood mould, which would have had label stops with initials D and W. These label stops have been reset in the wall to the right and left, with the W set upside down. These may be the initials of Digory Wills, who lived at Moditonham in the early 17th century. The hall has a 4-light granite window with king mullion and the same mouldings and hood mould with label stops. The inner room has the same 4-light window. Attached and set back to the left is the attached outhouse range, which is rendered, with a ground floor string course at the former eaves level. It has two 20th century windows at ground and first floor, all 2-light casements. An end stack and single storey continuation in an L-plan have a 20th century door. The left end of the house is roughcast. The right end is roughcast with a ground floor 2-light granite window with the same mouldings and hood mould; the first floor has a 2-light hollow-chamfered granite casement without hood mould. At the rear is a wide stair tower with pitched roof behind the hall, with a 19th century window of 2 cusped lights in wood. The rear lateral hall stack is visible. The lower end room has a 2-light 20th century casement with timber lintel at ground floor, with iron stanchions. The first floor has a 2-light 20th century casement and the attic has a 2-light 20th century casement. The rear of the addition is partly rendered and has two 20th century 2-light casements.

In the interior, the passage has an unusually thick wall to the lower side; this wall does not appear thick enough to have contained a flue for an axial fireplace. There is no evidence of a rear passage rear door. There is a solid masonry passage and hall wall to the right. The hall has a rear lateral fireplace in granite with thick roll-moulding to the surround and a vestigial ogee in a curve to the centre. Although the stair tower is built behind the hall, access to it is in the inner room. The inner room has a fine plasterwork ceiling with strapwork, fruit and leaves and a central rose; the moulded cornice has been partially renewed. The gable end fireplace has a granite surround reused from the chamber over the inner room, also with roll-moulding and a vestigial ogee with roundel to the centre. The windows are hollow-chamfered on the inside with sockets for iron stanchions. The corner fireplace has a 19th century mantel. At first floor, the rooms have 19th century partition walls. The chamber over the inner room retains a 17th century door in its original ovolo-moulded and scroll-stopped frame, the door in 8 panels with moulded raised battens and studs. The roof is reached by a straight stair to the attic; all 19th century reconstruction. There was formerly a stack at the higher gable end, removed by around 1900; the inner room was probably heated at ground floor from the front stack and at first floor from the gable end stack.