Sir James Thynne House With Front Walls And Gate Piers

Sir James Thynne House is an almshouse, founded in 1655 by Sir James Thynne. It is located on Church Street, Longbridge Deverill, and was originally listed as almshouses. The building is constructed of rubble stone with a stone slate roof and stone stacks that were removed in the 1980s. The gable end faces the road, with a central through passage.

The house is two storeys high and has a five-window front. The windows are casements, and the ground floor features three planked doors with strap hinges and slated canopies, set within moulded stone architraves. The first floor has a central four-light, ovolo-moulded mullioned and transomed window, with a two-light ovolo-mullioned casement and a three-light mullioned and transomed window on either side. The roof has three large gables with saddleback coping and ball finials.

The left return has a 20th-century four-light mullioned casement to the ground floor and a three-light mullioned and transomed window above. A wooden clock face projects from the gable, mounted on a carved bracket with a hipped tiled roof, alongside a louvred bellcote with a tiled pyramidal roof and ball finial; these are likely from the 19th century. The rear has a central planked door within a moulded architrave with a hood mould, and two-light recessed chamfered mullioned casements either side. Above, the first floor has two two-light ovolo-mullioned casements with hood moulds, between three gables that previously contained stacks. The right return features a four-light ovolo-mullioned casement to the ground floor, a three-light mullioned and transomed window to the first floor, and a two-light mullioned window to the attic, all with hood moulds.

Despite modernization in the 1980s, the interior retains original features. These include chamfered beams, a stone floor to the through passage, moulded plank and muntin partitions, and planked and studded doors in doorcases with ogee chamfers and run-out stops. Two closed string staircases feature moulded handrails and square, chamfered newels. The ground and first floors have square, chamfered stone fireplaces with plain mantels.

Attached to the front are rubble stone walls with pitched coping, square gate piers with pyramidal stone cappings and ball finials which are possibly 19th century. Sir James Thynne was of Longleat House (see Horningsham CP).