Middle Nethercleave

Middle Nethercleave is a farmhouse, now a private dwelling, located in Chittlehampton. The building has an interesting multi-phase development, probably dating from the early 16th century, remodelled probably in the late 16th century, extended in the 17th century, with 20th century alterations.

The exterior is constructed of painted roughcast rendered stone rubble and cob. The roof covering is thatch with a gable end to the left, corrugated iron roof hipped to the lower end, and a pantiled roof to the gable-ended rear wing. The building features 2 tall front lateral unrendered stone rubble stacks. The stack heating the parlour and hall has tapered caps; the one to the parlour is also corbelled on the right side to the first floor fireplace. The stack to the hall was heightened in brick with a bread oven projection.

The building is 2 storeys and comprises a 6-window range overall. A small 17th century leaded light window sits to the right of the parlour stack. A 19th century 3-light window with 2 panes per light is positioned above a 20th century 3-light window to the inner room. Eyebrow dormers flank the hall stack with 20th century fenestration. The hall window has been built out in line with the stack with a pantiled lean-to roof. A 20th century door opens to the former through-passage. The lower end has a 6-paned window over a part-glazed, part-slatted window to the left of a loft door over a plank door. A 2-light chamfered mullion window sits to the left gable end, and 19th century 3-light casements with 8 panes per light are positioned to the rear of the parlour end, both to the upper storey.

The plan originally comprised a 3-room and through-passage arrangement with a parlour added at the upper end to the left. The hall and through-passage partition was removed and the rear doorway blocked. A large gable-ended wing was added at the rear containing a staircase to the rear of the inner room.

The building shows evidence of an earlier open hall house. The cob wall partition rising to the apex of the roof between the hall and the narrow unheated inner room is heavily smoke-blackened on the hall side only. However, the ridge purlin over the inner room is also smoke-blackened, suggesting the cob wall partition between the hall and inner room may be a later insertion, with the inner room possibly being ceiled prior to the hall, or alternatively the ridge purlin may be reused. In the late 16th or early 17th century, a large parlour was added at the upper end. The inner room was partitioned axially towards the rear to create a connecting passage between the hall and new parlour, and a gable-ended wing was added at the rear of the passage. The function of the inner room, which has only a rough unchamfered axial ceiling beam, appears always to have been as a small unheated service room, probably because the lower end, which was altered in the 19th century but retains an unsmoke-blackened cruck truss, remained in use for agricultural accommodation, either for livestock or storage. At the time of survey it was still being used as a lofted storage space.

The interior of the lower end features roughly chamfered cross ceiling beams. A single-storey right-angled rear extension housed the copper, with a brick stack. A solid stone rubble wall runs along the lower side of the former passage; the screen on the upper side was unfortunately removed in the late 20th century. Part of the screen has been reused in a bookcase with an initialled date of 1751. The hall features a chamfered fireplace lintel with hollow step stops and a single cross ceiling beam, chamfered with hollow step stops, resting at the front end on the lower end of the fireplace lintel. A creamery niche is positioned in the upper end wall of the hall. A fine early 17th century straight-run staircase leads to the gabled rear wing, with wide timber treads and a small opening lighting the passage side with 4 turned balusters. The rear gabled wing has a chamfered cross ceiling beam with pyramid stops. The inner room has a single rough axial ceiling beam. A 6-panelled door opens to the parlour beyond, which features a deep chamfered keel-stopped axial ceiling beam and a chamfered fireplace lintel with hollow step stops. The chamber over the inner room has an early 16th century timber mullion window of 3 triangular-headed lights in the former gable end wall, subsequently blocked by the addition of the parlour end.

The roof structure comprises 2 jointed cruck trusses: 1 over the lower side of the former passage, and the other over the hall, with 2 tiers of trenched purlins and a diagonally set ridge purlin. All roof members over the hall, including surviving rafters, are heavily smoke-blackened, as is the cob wall partition on the hall side only between the hall and inner room. The truss over the hall is sited directly over the hall ceiling beam and is closed below collar level. Before being levelled out in the late 20th century, the floor heights to each side of the ceiling beam were different, so a jettied arrangement over the passage before the flooring of the hall proper cannot be discounted. A sequence of blacksmith's nails on the pair of rafters immediately to the right (lower) side of the hall truss, similar to those at Hawkridge Barton, Chittlehampton, may survive as evidence of a possible curtain arrangement to block smoke from the open hall entering the jettied chamber. The truss over the lower side of the former through-passage is clean on the lower end side; over the lower end is a clean cruck truss with short curved feet, formerly with a morticed and tenoned collar. The ridge purlin over the inner room is scarfed into that over the hall and is also smoke-blackened, but no other original roof members survive. The roof structure over the parlour end was not accessible.

Middle Nethercleave farmhouse has an interesting plan form and sequence of development, with a large parlour end added beyond the inner room, and the lower end apparently always intended for agricultural use. Despite 20th century alterations, including removal of the screen, front through-passage doorway, and some of the original roof structure, the interior retains a considerable number of interesting features. It ceased to function as a farmhouse when North Nethercleave was built in the late 19th century.