Great Matridge Farmhouse

HOLCOMBE BURNELL SX 89 NW

6/74 Great Matridge Farmhouse

• II

House. Late medieval origins, late C16 remodelling, rear wing added in the C19. Colourwashed rendered cob on stone rubble footings; 1920s red tiled roof (formerly thatched) gabled at ends; axial stack with ashlar granite shaft with cap and thatch weatherings, right end projecting stack, brick gable end stack to C19 rear wing. The present plan is 3 room and through passage with a rear left Cl9 kitchen wing at the higher end forming an L-plan, and a rear right single-storey lean-to addition at the lower end. Although the roof timbers were replaced after a fire in the 1920s there is evidence that the original plan was a medieval open hall house floored over in 2 phases; the unheated inner room first, jettying into the hall. At a later dated the hall stack was inserted backing on to the through passage and the hall was floored over. The lower end may originally have been unheated, the stack possibly added in the C18. In the C19 a rear kitchen wing was added. The roof timbers were entirely replaced in the 1920s after a thatch fire, and the pitch of the roof adapted for tiles. 2 storeys. Irregular 5-window front with 2 raking dormers projecting slightly above the eaves line. The front door into the through passage, centre right has a slated porch canopy carried on brackets; to the left of the porch a projecting semi- circular bread oven capped with a single slate. Fenestration of 2-light casements. 3 panes per light, ground floor window left blocked. Interior Considerable survival of late C16 features and, surviving from the medieval open hall phase of the building, a very rare hall window at the rear, blocked but in a good state of preservation. The window is timber and consists of 4 trefoil-headed lights with diagonal stops to the mullions, in a rectangular frame; the window extends across the level of the first floor and appears to be in situ. Late C16 features include a fine timber round-headed doorway, chamfered on the outer face. The chimney breast of the hall stack is granite ashlar on the passage side, on the hall side the fireplace has a chamfered lintel with diagonal stops and stone rubble jambs. There is a jetty beam above the plank and muntin screen between the hall and inner room, the screen has chamfered muntins with diagonal stops at former hall bench level. The inner room, which has been subdivided, has a chamfered cross beam with step stops. Disturbance to the rear wall of the hall may indicate the position of a former stair. The lower end room has an open fireplace with a plain timber lintel. A good example of a house with late C16 features, the earlier blocked open hall window is probably late C15 and a very rare survival.

Listing NGR: SX8439489926