Glebe Farmhouse and privy

Glebe Farmhouse and Privy

This is a farmhouse of late 16th or early 17th-century date, substantially altered and extended over several centuries. The main house was re-fronted and modified in the late 18th century, with significant further changes in the 19th and 20th centuries. A separate privy of late 19th-century date stands in the grounds to the south.

The farmhouse is built in stone rubble, painted on the front elevation. The roof above the front wing is pitched clay tile, raised during the late 18th-century re-fronting. Original thatch was replaced in 1966. The remainder of the roofs are covered in concrete tiles and Roman clay tiles. The building has stone rubble chimneys with gable-end stacks to the north and east; later brick stacks are attached to the rear wings.

The plan is L-shaped with a long rear range. This rear range originally comprised outbuildings, probably a cart-house and dairy, but was converted to domestic use in 1978. Two later lean-to structures to the south contain a conservatory and study. A single-storey 19th-century kitchen wing is attached to the rear north-east end. In the late 20th century, the rear courtyard to the east was enclosed and covered with corrugated plastic sheeting.

The front elevation is two storeys with three windows, each of two lights with unmoulded flush mullions and hood-moulds. A central door has a beaded flush surround with a pediment on brackets.

The south garden elevation shows the projecting blind gable end of the main house, with later lean-tos and a single-storey wing with attic. Multiple timber casements and French doors were inserted at attic level, and five pitched dormers added to the roof, all as part of the 1978 conversion. The north elevation comprises the south gable of the front with a small off-centre sash window at first floor, and the lower painted kitchen wing with timber replacement casement. The north side of the long rear range, facing a courtyard partly enclosed and roofed in the late 20th century, has window and door openings with exposed timber lintels. The former cart-house elevation, originally open, was closed in 1978 with two circular windows inserted.

Internally, the L-shaped plan survives largely intact with numerous period features. The ground floor contains heavy chamfered ceiling beams. The dining room to the left of the entrance hall has a large inglenook with stone jambs and a heavy chamfered timber lintel. The stonework of the lower corner to the right of this inglenook is slightly curved, suggesting it may once have held a newel stair, which is supported by a change in the orientation of ceiling timbers above. The sitting room to the right contains a large inglenook, but its fabric and construction indicate it was probably built in the 1970s, as confirmed by the current owner. The entrance hall contains an early 19th-century staircase with stick balusters and a fluted newel post with ball finial. First-floor bedrooms have timber ceiling beams with decorative scroll tops; one retains an early 19th-century fireplace. The surviving roof timbers in the front wing include steep roof trusses of late 16th or early 17th-century character, though the wing was subsequently heightened at the front.

The rear range retains heavy chamfered ceiling beams at ground level, a fragment of timber partitioning of probably later date, and flag stone flooring in the current store room near the front wing. Late 20th-century stairs provide access to the converted attic, subdivided into bedrooms with a corridor to the north side. Two early windows, possibly of 17th-century date, survive along this corridor. One has a central timber post, vertical iron grilles to the openings on either side, and broad planked timber shutters. The other is a two-light window with horizontal iron grilles supporting a leaded glass window; the left-hand window is fixed while the right has two decorative cast iron catches with heart-shaped plates and circular handles, with a partly surviving hook stay. The substantial coupled rafter roof to the rear wing survives mostly intact, though altered when dormers and roof lights were inserted in the late 1970s.

The privy stands approximately 10 metres south-east of the house and dates from the late 19th century. It is built in stone rubble with a pitched tiled roof, a late 20th-century replacement. The timber seat and floor inside survive.

The 1970s garage attached to the east of the farmhouse and the garden walls are not considered to be of special architectural or historic interest.