Lower Hare Farmhouse

Lower Hare Farmhouse

This is a farmhouse with origins dating to the early 16th century, substantially remodelled around the mid-17th century, with some rebuilding in the early 19th century and 20th-century rear additions in progress at the time of survey in 1985.

The building is constructed of whitewashed rendered cob, though the right-hand end wall has been rebuilt in brick, and there is some brick below the eaves to the rear. The roof is slate, gabled at the ends. There are three chimney stacks: one on the left gable end, a projecting stack with set-offs and brick shaft on the front wall, and a 19th-century brick stack to the rear right. A single-storey rear lean-to constructed in concrete block with a tiled roof provides additional accommodation. The house stands two storeys tall, with an irregular four-window front elevation. The front door opens into the passage to the right of centre, with an approximately central front lateral stack and a further entrance at the extreme left. The fenestration consists of late 20th-century metal frame casements set within 19th-century embrasures.

The present plan comprises three rooms and a through passage. The inner room to the left is heated by the gable end stack and was rebuilt in the early 19th century as a kitchen. The hall is heated by the stack on the front wall. The lower end to the right was originally unheated, with a 19th-century stack added at the rear. The single-storey rear lean-to on the left serves as a service room to the kitchen, while that on the right at the lower end was being converted as accommodation at the time of survey. The core of the house is a late medieval open hall, which was floored over around the mid-17th century when the front lateral stack was added. The lower end and passage may have always been floored. The lower end has been re-roofed and its end wall rebuilt, probably following partial collapse.

The interior contains considerable survival of fine 17th-century features. Three screens of oak plank and muntin construction survive. The hall is particularly notable, featuring a large fireplace with hollow-chamfered brecchia ashlar jambs, a massive timber lintel (partly concealed by late 20th-century masonry) and a relieving arch above. A cross beam and a half beam are heavily moulded with elaborate stops.

The higher end screen has a moulded top rail and moulded muntins stopped off at hall bench level; the original doorway has been moved. The lower end screen has a blocked Caernarvon arched doorway with some replacement of planks and muntins towards the rear. On the passage side the muntins are moulded and stopped. The lower end screen of the passage has similar moulded stopped muntins and two blocked Caernarvon arched doorways. The rear doorway may originally have led into an internal stair turret in the lower end room, which no longer exists.

The through passage has deeply chamfered joists which have been reset above the top rail of the hall screen, which has subsided slightly following decay at the base. The rear doorway of the passage is four-centred and chamfered on the rear side, with a probably early 18th-century wide plank door.

A jointed cruck truss with a cranked collar and threaded ridge survives above the hall, with two tiers of deeply chamfered purlins similar in section to the joists of the through passage ceiling. The joints of the truss are mortised. Closed trusses exist at each end of the hall and are smoke-blackened on the hall side. The higher end truss displays some puzzling charring on the higher side; the charring does not appear to have damaged the timber and leaves a smooth surface when removed. The mortises on this truss indicate that the early 16th-century roof extended over the inner room before it was replaced, although it remains unclear whether the inner room was originally open or floored. Recent renovations have revealed that the front foot of the jointed cruck truss over the hall was cut off when the hall stack was added, though the rear foot survives.

The left-hand end of the house has thinner cob walls. The ground floor fireplace has brick jambs and is probably early 19th-century. An old photograph in the owner's possession shows the house with small pane casement fenestration.

The combination of high-status carpentry and joinery details and a fine fireplace makes this a building of especial interest.