Town Farmhouse Including Walls To Walled Garden To The South

TOWN FARMHOUSE INCLUDING WALLS TO WALLED GARDEN TO THE SOUTH

Farmhouse at Gittisham, disused at the time of survey in 1987, with adjoining walls of a walled garden to the south. The building is possibly of medieval origins but has been substantially remodelled and extended in phases during the 17th and 18th centuries, with very little alteration since. The structure is largely built of stone rubble, except for the front right (north-west) wing which is constructed of cob on stone rubble footings and rendered. The roof is thatched with a plain ridge, with end stacks and an axial stack to the main range, a lateral stack on the east wall of the rear left (south-east) wing, and an end stack to the north-west wing.

The plan follows a traditional arrangement with a main range facing north comprising three rooms with a cross passage to the left of centre. An unusual feature is the position of the axial stack, which heats the centre room but does not back onto the passage. A service wing projects to the front right at right angles, a parlour wing projects to the rear left at right angles, and a truncated service wing is positioned to the rear right. The main stair rises at the rear of the main range adjacent to the cross passage in a stair projection from the south wall, while a service stair rises from the right end room. An axial passage runs to the rear of the centre room and along the first floor, returning at the west end to link with the service stair.

The building's evolution is complex. The change in first floor level and a change of plane on the rear wall suggest possible late medieval open hall origins, though evidence is not conclusive. Although some timbers at the right (west) end of the main range show darkening, they do not appear to be definitely smoke-blackened. The carpentry of all roof trusses in the main range appears consistent, though some cruck feet have been removed. It seems likely that the main range is either a single build of 1600 (date over door) or a remodelling at that date of an earlier house. There has been rebuilding of the main range at the right end (kitchen), possibly including the end wall and chimney stack, which carries a re-sited datestone of 1678 on its renewed brick shaft. The carpentry details of the roof structure of the front right wing suggest a mid to possibly late 17th-century date. The next major phase appears to date from around 1700 to 1730, marked by the addition of a high-quality panelled parlour wing adjoining at the rear left with a small unheated room off it. The main stair may be contemporary with the parlour, and the fine mullioned and transomed windows to the main range could form part of the same programme of upgrading. Ovolo-moulded mullioned windows on the first floor may have been re-used at this date or may be rather archaic and employed in less important positions.

The exterior is two storeys with a fine asymmetrical six-bay front to the main range on the north elevation with regular fenestration. A two-storey porch with a hipped thatched roof is positioned in the third bay from the left, featuring a two-panel front door. Above the outer doorway is a small stone plaque bearing the initials R.S. (Robert Sherman, per old list description) and the date 1600. The ground floor windows are a fine set of circa 1700 mullioned and transomed casements with square leaded panes, some retaining original ferramenta. The first floor windows are probably of the same date, comprising two-light casements with square leaded panes. The north-west wing projects at the right end, with its inner return having a two-light casement with square leaded panes and an unglazed window on the ground floor. The north gable end wall has a first floor two-light casement with square leaded panes and an unglazed moulded mullioned timber window on the ground floor with replaced left-hand jamb. The west elevation of the wing has a two-light unglazed window and a 19th or 20th-century plank door. The west gable end of the main range has two first floor two-light windows with square leaded panes and a small two-light chamfered mullioned window on the ground floor. The left return (east elevation) has one first floor and one ground floor window to the gable end of the main range, both with square leaded panes. The east elevation of the south-east parlour wing has a small projection which is blind on the ground floor, with a two-light timber moulded mullioned window on the first floor with square leaded panes and a similar first floor window to the wing above a transomed and mullioned window matching those on the front. The lateral stack has a date plaque on the shaft but the date is illegible. The rear elevation of the main range has one ground floor mullioned and transomed window and two to the south end of the wing. The first floor of the main range has two-light casements with square leaded panes. A rear door at the junction of the main range and south-east wing has a porch hood on shaped brackets. The south-west wing has been truncated by fire, with its inner (west) return having a plank door flanked by casements and one first floor casement.

The interior is rich in features of the 17th and 18th centuries. The left-hand room of the main range has a deeply-chamfered, step-stopped crossbeam and a probably 18th-century fireplace with a rounded fireback. The room to the right of the passage has a 19th-century tiled chimney-piece. The kitchen at the right end has two chamfered step-stopped crossbeams and a massive fireplace with a chamfered stopped lintel rising behind a truncated half beam to the ceiling, together with two bread ovens. The front right wing has chamfered crossbeams and an 18th-century plank partition wall separating it from the kitchen. The rear left parlour has a boxed-in crossbeam and good-quality 18th-century wall panelling with fielded panels in need of repair. An early 18th-century stair features a closed string and slender turned balusters. On the first floor the left-hand room retains an 18th-century moulded timber chimney-piece with an 18th-century iron grate and probably re-used dado panelling. Re-used 18th-century panelling survives in the next room to the right, which is unheated. The rear left room has 19th-century dado panelling with a 19th-century grate and chimney-piece. The centre room on the first floor has 19th-century panelling. The first floor room in the front right wing has a chamfered stopped 17th-century lintel to the fireplace, and various probably 18th-century panelled doors survive on the first floor.

The roof comprises four trusses to the main range of similar design, constructed as cruck construction with several cruck feet removed for the insertion of windows and the stair. The two right-hand trusses retain their cruck feet which are plastered over. The ridge is diagonally set, with purlins laid on the backs of the principals which have halved apexes. The timbers over the right end of the main range are slightly darker than the others, though definite evidence of smoke-blackening from an open hall did not appear conclusive on survey. The two trusses over the front right wing have principals halved at the apex and collars lap dovetailed into the principals. The roof over the rear left wing was not seen, but the apex of the roof of the adjoining projection suggests an 18th-century date. This is a high-quality building in a prominent position within an exceptionally attractive village, with a good exterior featuring a fine set of windows, a wealth of interior features of interest, and a plan form that has remained unaltered for over a century.