Whippenscot Farmhouse And Outbuilding Adjoining At West

Whippenscot Farmhouse and Adjoining Outbuilding at West

This is a farmhouse with probable late medieval origins that was remodelled in the late 16th or early 17th century, with rebuilding at the east end possibly in the 18th century and at the west end. The building is constructed of colourwashed rendered cob and stone with an asbestos roof (formerly thatched) and gables at both ends. It features a front lateral projecting stack with rendered shaft and partial brickwork, and a projecting right-end stack incorporating a bread oven.

The plan comprises a south-facing range with three rooms and a cross passage: a lower end to the right, a hall heated by the front lateral stack with an adjacent hall bay, an unheated inner room to the left, and a rear left outshut serving as a back kitchen and dairy. A winder stair rises in a projection on the rear wall of the hall.

The structural evidence suggests the centre room is the earliest part of the house, flanked by thick crosswalls indicating rebuilding at both ends. The roof over the centre room is of jointed cruck construction and may be late medieval, though this remains unproven without access to the apex, though some loose battens in the owner's possession do appear blackened. If medieval in origin, the open hall was probably floored in the early 17th century with the front lateral stack and rear stair added at that time. The lower end and passage appear to have been rebuilt later, possibly in the 18th century, as the roof structure differs and there are no exposed ceiling beams on the ground floor, with the lower end room likely functioning as the kitchen by the 18th century. The left-hand (west) room, now the kitchen, is plain and has never had a stack; it may be a former outbuilding absorbed into domestic use in the 18th or 19th century.

Externally, the building is two storeys with an asymmetrical three-window front. The massive front lateral stack with set-offs forms the right end, which is slightly set back and has a 20th-century front door to the cross passage to the right of centre. Two early 19th-century three-light casements with small panes survive to the right of the stack; other windows are 20th-century timber replacements.

Internally, the centre of the house preserves pre-17th-century features. On the ground floor, the hall has an axial beam moulded towards the hearth but simply chamfered away from it, possibly marking a distinction in status between different parts of the room. The fireplace has a chamfered lintel and an unusual chamfered mantel shelf which may date to the 17th century, with a wooden peg projecting from the wall above the lintel, presumably for holding a light. A 17th-century bench is fixed to the higher end, and a small wall cupboard is built into the wall thickness. A small closet opens off the stair behind the cross passage and has a 17th or 18th-century door. At the time of survey in 1987, the apex was not accessible, but the main truss in the centre of the house is a side-pegged jointed cruck truss said to be complete at the apex below new timbering.

The adjoining outbuilding to the west is probably late 17th or 18th century with a lower corrugated iron roof, hipped at the left end. It has two doorways on the front and a two-light mullioned window on the rear wall.

This is a traditional house with good interior features.