Umbrook

Umbrook is a detached house, originally a farmhouse, dating to the early 17th century and with very little subsequent alteration. It is constructed of roughcast cob on stone footings, with a gable-end pantiled roof. The house was initially planned as a 3-room, through-passage dwelling, with a service wing located to the left of the passage, subdivided by an axial partition. External stacks are present, the service wing stack featuring large pantiled set-offs and a tall brick shaft. The axial stack, backing onto the passage and hall, and the inner room stack are entirely of stone. A half-newel stair is situated to the rear of the hall, while a second newel stair, built into the thickness of the end stack, serves the rear of the inner room.

The front elevation features a 4-window range. The upper floor has 3-light casement windows, one with 8 leaded panes per light. The ground floor has 2-light casements on the service end and 3-light casements in both the hall and inner room, appearing to be early 20th century replacements. A planked and studded door, fitted with strap hinges, opens onto the passage. Single casement windows are visible at both ends of the house. The rear elevation has only one 2-light casement window, used to light an upper corridor.

The interior is remarkably well-preserved from the 17th century. The service wing features an axial half-beam to the rear, with hollow step stops. A central axial beam has a shallow chamfer, and a partition with a single 4-light opening (now blocked) is present; the lintel of this opening is formed by the beam. The fireplace in this room has a chamfered lintel with hollow step stops, a stone back and side oven, and a later 19th-century brick boiler. The through passage has a lower-end plank and muntin screen; the muntins are chamfered with carpenter's mitres, and remnants of a doorway with a rebate for a cranked lintel survive, alongside some 19th-century joinery replacements. The hall features a single chamfered axial ceiling beam with hollow step stops, and a blocked fireplace with a chamfered lintel. The half-newel stair retains original treads, risers, a newel post, one pegged baluster, and a section of rail, with some 19th-century replacements. A partition between hall and inner room is constructed of post and panel, cob and wattle. The ceiling beams of both rooms rest on a central post. The end newel stair has a 17th-century panelled door with HL hinges, original treads and risers, and contemporary turned balusters with moulded middle and hand-rails. A small fireplace in the inner room chamber has a chamfered lintel with step stops. The roof structure comprises trusses with straight principals, crossed, halved and pegged at the apex.