Ball Ham

SS 72 SE BISHOP'S NYMPTON

6/2 Ball Ham

GV II

Farmhouse, at one time blacksmith's house. Mid/late C17 with C19 or C20 addition at the right end and C20 re-roofing. Rendered cob on stone rubble footings; wooden shingle roof, gabled at ends (formerly thatched); axial stack with a rendered shaft. Plan: Originally a 2 room plan house with a lobby entrance against the axial stack, the left hand room heated, the right hand room unheated. A third room has been added at the right end, and the middle room has been subdivided. A straight stair rises against the rear wall of the left hand room - it is probably C19 and cuts through C17 joists. Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 4 window front with the front door to left of centre and a second door at the right into the right hand room. C20 windows but probably in earlier embrasures. Interior: The centre room has closely-spaced axial ceiling beams; the left hand room has a C17 scroll-stopped crossbeam and fireplace lintel and retains some old wall plaster, which also survives on the first floor. Roof: C20 trusses, probably post 1960 and probably dating from the removal of the thatch. The 2 room lobby entrance plan is less common in the region than the 3 room and through passage arrangement. Group value with the blacksmith's forge at Ash Mill.

Listing NGR: SS7836223427