Northleigh Farmhouse

Northleigh Farmhouse

A farmhouse with probable 16th-century origins, substantially developed in the later 16th and 17th centuries (with dated features from 1664), and underwent major refurbishment in the early 19th century. The building is constructed of plastered local stone and flint rubble, possibly with some cob, with stone rubble chimney stacks finished with plastered brick chimneyshafts. The roof is partially thatched in its central section, with slate covering at each end.

The house follows a much-altered four-room-and-through-passage plan, oriented north-north-east. The left (east) end contains the service kitchen with a gable-end stack. The passage divides the plan, with the hall on its right side featuring an axial stack that backs onto the passage. Beyond this is an inner room, later divided during the early 19th-century refurbishment into a main entrance hall at the front with the stair rising between it and a small study or office (which also has an axial stack backing onto the parlour). The parlour at the right (west) end has a gable-end stack. The original house appears to have been a 16th-century three-room-and-through-passage plan, likely with an open hall heated by an open hearth fire. The fourth room (parlour) was added in the 17th century, possibly in 1664, as evidenced by ornamental plasterwork bearing that date in the chamber above. The service kitchen was refurbished around the same period and underwent further substantial alteration in the early 19th century. During the early 19th-century refurbishment, the passage, hall, and inner room were largely rebuilt, though the basic layout was retained. The first floor and roof level were raised, the inner room was rearranged and divided, and a new main door was inserted through the front wall leading to the new entrance hall with its accompanying stair.

The house stands two storeys with attics. The facade presents an irregular 1:3:1 window arrangement. The left section contains one window—a 19th-century casement with glazing bars beneath a 17th-century oak four-light window with ovolo-moulded mullions. The central three-window section features early 19th-century sixteen-pane sashes, with the centre pair formed as tripartite sashes. This section also contains two front doorways: the left is the passage front doorway (now containing a 20th-century door, restored from an earlier window blocking), and the right is a mid-19th-century insertion with a part-glazed six-panel door and a doorcase topped with a pedimented head. The right section contains sixteen-pane sashes. The roof is gable-ended, with the central section higher than those at each end, and features a central casement dormer. The rear elevation has fewer windows but includes, adjacent to the stairs, a tall round-headed window with Y-tracery containing some noteworthy stained glass.

The interior retains detail predominantly from the 19th-century renovation, and while the original layout is largely preserved, earlier structural carpentry may survive beneath 19th-century plaster. Features from the 17th-century extension are visible, including crossbeams over the ground floor room that are chamfered with scroll stops. The fireplaces on both floors here are now obscured by 19th-century grates, but a disused newel stair rises alongside the stack. On the first floor is an ornamental plaster overmantel bearing the arms of William Bowden and the date 1664, currently papered over.

The roof is inaccessible but is thought to comprise mostly 19th-century carpentry. Despite the earlier phases of construction, the farmhouse is essentially the product of a major early 19th-century refurbishment, retaining considerable joinery and other details from that period.