Bryony Hill

Bryony Hill is a farmhouse dating from the mid-17th century, though it may incorporate some 16th-century fabric that was heavily remodelled. The house was extended in the 18th century and modernised in the late 20th century.

The walls are rendered cob, with a thatch roof gabled to the left end and rear, and hipped to the right end. The external stacks comprise a projecting coursed rubble front lateral stack, a brick stack at the left gable-end, and a brick stack positioned axially between the two rear ranges.

The plan is essentially a 3-room-and-through-passage arrangement with the lower end to the right. However, the original form is unclear. It is uncertain whether the house began as an open hall with an integral lateral stack, later heavily remodelled in the 17th century, or was built as a single-phase 17th-century structure, as the hall screen and fireplace do not appear to align properly with the ceiling and rear doorframes. The unheated lower room's original function is also ambiguous, as it has evidently served as an animal house, yet the quality of its ceiling beams suggests this may be secondary use.

A mid-17th-century kitchen wing stands behind the hall, with a contemporary stair wing adjoining it at the hall's rear; the staircase has been rebuilt. Beyond the kitchen, further additions were made in the 18th century at right angles, forming a parallel range to the front elevation. The house was modernised in the late 20th century, completely refenestrated, and the lower end subdivided.

The exterior presents 2 storeys in an asymmetrical composition of six windows of late 20th-century 2- and 3-light casements. A gabled 20th-century porch stands to the right of centre with a 20th-century plank door. A rear wing extends behind the left-hand end, with another range forming a cross wing at its higher end.

The interior passage features a plank-and-muntin screen at its higher end with chamfered muntins displaying notched stops and true mitres to the chamfered headbeam. Several initials and a date from the 1700s are carved upon it. The lower end contains heavy chamfered cross beams with step stops. The passage joists run through the screen into the hall, which displays 3 ovolo-moulded cross beams with scroll stops, the lowest positioned quite near the screen. Two similarly decorated wooden doorframes occupy the rear of the hall, one leading to the kitchen wing and one to the stair wing. The hall fireplace comprises a chamfered wooden lintel with straight-cut stops resting on 2 wooden corbels with curved ends; the right-hand corbel has been damaged. The kitchen wing contains a heavy chamfered and step-stopped crossbeam and a fireplace with chamfered wooden lintel.

On the first floor, preserved within the wall between the front range and kitchen wing is a reused 17th-century 3-light wooden mullion window, chamfered with stops at the bottom on one side only.

The roof over the main range comprises three sections over the inner room, hall, and lower end, divided by full-height partitions and apparently all dating to the 17th century. Above the inner room are straight principals with straight collars lapped and pegged onto them. The hall roof employs similar construction, but the collars are halved on with notched lap joints. The lower end roof is identical but exhibits rougher construction.

This appears to be a fairly complete and good-quality 17th-century house, though certain inconsistencies suggest it may have earlier origins.