The Wells, and associated outbuilding

The Main House

The Wells is a former open hall house built in the 15th century, extended in the 17th century and altered in the 20th century. The building is constructed of stone, partly rendered, with brick chimneys and red clay Roman tile roofs.

The main range runs roughly north-south and comprises four bays of diminishing heights. An attached stair tower stands to the rear (west) of the southernmost bay, with a wing extending to the rear of the next bay northward.

The East (Main) Elevation

The southernmost bay dates from the late 16th or early 17th century and rises to two-and-a-half storeys. It is built of blue lias stone with a cement-rendered south gable. At ground level, the east elevation retains a large eight-light oak king mullioned window—seven fixed lights and one opening metal casement with spring catch—characteristic of the late 16th or early 17th century. The first floor has a three-light timber mullioned window.

The next bay to the right is lower, with two storeys, though its upper floor sits lower than that of its neighbour. This and the remaining bays are finished in painted render. A step in the walls above the ground-floor windows marks the original eaves line of the building. The ground floor has uPVC French doors, with a three-light timber casement window above.

The final two bays are each of one-and-a-half storeys. The left bay has a pair of small square casement windows at ground level and a gabled dormer above. The right bay features a small gabled porch to the left and modern French doors to the right, with a gabled dormer window above.

The South Gable and Stair Tower

The south gable end is cement rendered. It has a modern entrance door to the left, paired windows at ground and first floors, and a single attic window—all uPVC replacements, probably for sash windows. A full-height, square-plan stair tower extends to the left, with three small fixed square lights. The roof continues as a wing from the main range.

The Rear Wing and Extensions

Alongside the stair tower, extending further west, stands a two-storey rear wing. A small lean-to porch sits in the re-entrant angle between the two structures. The wing is built of coursed rubble stone, with a window under a segmental brick arch at ground level and a smaller window opening under the eaves above—both now fitted with uPVC casements. The blind gable end is rendered. The inner face of the wing, which has a single upper-floor window, is partly obscured by a rendered 20th-century kitchen extension with uPVC windows and a rear entrance.

The Rear of the Main Range

The rear of the main range shows the same step in the walling as the front elevation, indicating where the building height was raised. The northernmost bay was slightly lower than the adjoining two bays. The range has two dormer windows, a small first-floor window, a late-20th-century door in the right bay and modern French doors to the left. The northern gable end shows the truncation of the range, with the original height wall extending as stubs beyond the plane of the wall, supporting a late-20th-century pentice roof over an outside store. This end wall has one window at each of the ground and upper floors.

Interior of the Main House

The present entrance is through the 16th- or 17th-century bay, with the hallway running axially along the bay. A late-19th- or 20th-century straight stair rises to the first floor. The stair tower lies to the left, its lower flight of winder stairs now removed.

The major part of this bay is occupied by a large ground-floor room with a deeply-chamfered panelled ceiling with plastered infills. The small fireplace dates from the 20th century. The first floor of this bay has been subdivided. Doors of three planks with round-ended strap hinges on pintles lead to the rear wing and the adjoining bay. The attic room is lit by the gable window. The roof structure has been painted but appears to incorporate a mixture of reused timbers and some machine-sawn timbers.

The next two bays represent the core of the 15th-century house, which also extended into the northernmost bay. The external walls at ground level are pronouncedly battered to the interior. The ground floor of the first of these bays has a large inglenook fireplace at the northern end with a massive chamfered and stopped bressumer supported on monolithic stone piers, and a separate chamfered mantelshelf above. A later brick-built bread oven is inserted on the right-hand side. To the left of the fireplace is a low, wide three-boarded door within a four-centred arched doorframe, the jambs replaced later. The door has spear-headed pintle hinges and later battens. The room has a chamfered central ceiling beam with stepped stop running axially.

The upper floor of this bay has an arch-braced collar-rafter roof truss, with trenched purlin socket rising from floor level on the north side of the room, close to the present gable. A second collared truss rises from floor level on the south side of the room, also with evidence of trenched purlins. At the base of the truss there is some indication of the foot curving, suggestive of a raised cruck, whilst infilled sockets on the underside of the collar suggest there may once have been a wattle-and-daub panel below the collar. Wind braces survive to both sides of the roof structure but some have been removed, possibly when the roof height was raised above the original structure. The timbers are painted within the roof, but those visible above the ceiling, including a further curved windbrace and a purlin, show evidence of smoke blackening. The arch-braced collar-rafter truss has a chamfer to both sides of the brace, as well as on the blade and purlins, indicating the room may have extended further north prior to the insertion of the chimney breast and associated floor structure.

The next bay to the north shows evidence of significant 20th-century modernisation but retains its battered walls to both sides of the ground floor. The joists have been replaced and a modern dogleg stair inserted to reach the upper rooms. The internal timberwork all dates from the later 20th century, and the roof structure appears to have been replaced in the same period.

The northernmost bay has evidence of stone walling to the west (rear) with a slightly lower eaves line than bays two and three. The wall construction appears to be a mix of historic and 20th-century walling. The roof and internal partitions all date from the 20th-century alterations.

The Rear Wing Interior

The two-storey rear wing has a single room at ground level, with a wide but relatively low inglenook fireplace on the gable wall, with a bread oven to the right and small recess to the left. A ceiling beam spanning the room is deeply chamfered, with a broach stop. The first floor is divided into two rooms. The visible elements of the roof structure show evidence of a mortice for a collar, and tenoned purlins.

The single-storey kitchen extension to the north side is wholly mid- to late-20th-century in character.

The Detached Outbuilding

To the south-east of the house stands a detached outbuilding of two low storeys. Probably dating from the 18th century, this building is in coursed rubble stone with some brick patching, built in at least two phases.

The long eastern elevation has full-height double doors at the very northern end and a roughly central ground-floor pedestrian doorway. The southern gable end is largely rebuilt in brick and has two doors at ground level with a taking-in door above—all the openings under relatively recent timber lintels. The long western elevation has a small opening, perhaps for machinery.

Internally, the building is divided horizontally and vertically, with no access from the northern half to the southern. On one wall is mounted a set of cheese racks, likely reused. The roof structure is formed from A-frame trusses with lapped-on collars and two tiers of threaded purlins.