Corston Farmhouse

Corston Farmhouse is a building of early 17th-century origins, possibly incorporating earlier fabric, situated in Littleton Upon Severn. It is a building of group value, recognised for its significant architectural and historical interest. The farmhouse is constructed of rubble with stone dressings, and features a double Roman tiled roof with gable stacks. The stack on the south gable is a false rubble stack concealing a staircase inside. The building has a T-plan, with a symmetrical west front. It is two and a half storeys high, with two gables rising to ridge height, and originally had three windows. These are casement windows with timber lintels and wooden ovolo mullions: four-light at ground floor level, three-light at the first floor, and two-light in the gables. Blocked windows are found at the apex of each gable, featuring drip moulds. The central entrance is a 12-panelled door with studs and raised moulded battens, framed by a bolection moulded surround, a timber lintel, and a drip mould. The door is believed to have come from the Church of St. Mary of Malmesbury during its 19th-century restoration. A blocked cellar window is located to the right, underneath a timber lintel. On the east side of the south wing, a three-light casement has chamfered mullions and a timber lintel, whilst a two-light window in the gable has a flat frame, leaded lights, and a drip mould. Another blocked window, also with a hood mould, is present above. The south east gable includes a blocked window at its apex. The east side also displays a 20th-century timber casement with a timber lintel at the first floor and a small blocked window, complete with a hood mould, to the left of the gable. A plank door is set to the right, with a glass insertion in a plain frame and a timber lintel. The north side shows a gable on both the north and east wings, and a probable former dairy with a door and window, both framed by timber lintels. Inside, the farmhouse retains chamfered beams with bar and scroll stops. All windows are bolection moulded on the interior. A through passage is present alongside a ground floor room to the left, featuring a heavy chamfered lintel over the fireplace, which has a circa-1930 fireplace insert. Studded plank and batten doors are also visible. An unusually wide winder stair rises to the second floor, with a moulded grip handrail, moulded newels and risers. Elaborate splat balusters remain at the second floor level, although the lower levels have square balusters replacing the originals. First floor doors are plank doors with vertical mouldings, studs and strap hinges on the reverse, and bolection moulded frames with bar and scroll stops. All blocked windows at the apex of the gables on the second floor retain ovolo mullions, wooden diamond stanchions, and leaded diamond lights, alongside plank shutters. The roof structure is a five-bay design with tie-beams beneath the floor, collars, two rows of purlins, a diagonal joint connecting the principal rafters, and no ridge; all timbers are chamfered. The farmhouse formerly had ball finials on all gables. Local tradition suggests a monastic origin connected with the Church of St. Mary of Malmesbury.