Ashtree Farmhouse Including Garden Walls To South

Ashtree Farmhouse is a farmhouse, probably dating to the 16th century, with improvements made in the 17th century and refurbishment in 1685, as indicated by a date plaque. It was modernised and enlarged in the late 19th century. The construction is of plastered cob on stone rubble footings, with chimneys built of stone rubble patched with 19th-century brick, two chimney shafts incorporating imported Dutch brick from the late 17th century, and a thatch roof with a corrugated asbestos roof over a plastered brick extension. A 19th-century brick outshot has a corrugated iron roof.

The house originally had a 3-room-and-through-passage plan, facing south, with the inner room located at the west end. The inner room and the service end kitchen have gable-end stacks, and the hall has a projecting front lateral stack. A 1-room plan extension was added on the east end in the late 19th century, along with a contemporary outshot to the rear of the hall. The main house is two stories high. The front has an irregular 3-window facade with late 19th-century casement windows with glazing bars, and a fourth unglazed larder window to the right end extension. A late 19th-century panelled front door is protected by a corrugated asbestos monopitch hood.

The hall stack is plastered stone rubble patched with 19th-century brick, featuring tile offsets and, above it, a tall and slender chimney shaft built of small imported Dutch brick and bearing a Beerstone plaque inscribed “GB 1685.” The coping of this stack is replaced with 19th-century brick. Much of the kitchen chimney shaft is also constructed of Dutch bricks. The roof is gable-ended on the right and half-hipped on the left.

The interior largely reflects the late 19th-century modernisation, with blocked fireplaces containing 19th and 20th-century grates. Exposed carpentry detail is limited, but the original layout is preserved, suggesting that early features likely remain beneath the 19th-century plaster. The only visible beam is a 17th-century axial beam in the service end kitchen, which is soffit-chamfered with scroll stops. The roofspace is inaccessible, and the trusses are plastered over. The curving feet of the trusses suggest a cruck construction, likely dating back to the 16th or 17th century. Ashtree Farmhouse appears to be a well-preserved 16th and 17th century farmhouse despite limited visible early fabric.