Cotswold Farmhouse

Cotswold Farmhouse

A large country house of 17th-century origin, substantially enlarged in 1926 by architect Sidney Barnsley, with later 20th-century alterations. The building exemplifies the Arts and Crafts movement in its mature phase.

The house is constructed of coursed and random rubble limestone with dressed stone windows, doorways and quoins. Chimneys on the earlier house are ashlar with moulded skirts and caps, while those on 20th-century additions are coursed rubble with dressed quoins and slate weathering. The roof is of stone slate with some ornamental leadwork throughout.

The original 17th-century house comprised two storeys with an attic and featured a two-span roof, later modified in the 20th century. Two wings at the rear were subsequently extended by the addition of two further wings in the 20th century to form an L-plan arrangement, mostly of two storeys with attic storeys. A two-storey front porch and single-storey porch at the rear complete the configuration.

The front elevation features a central gabled porch with a four-centred moulded archway and hoodmould. To either side of the porch on the ground floor are two recessed chamfered mullioned windows of two lights. Above are two two-light windows and a single light window to the right, all mullioned. To the upper floor is a two-light recessed chamfered mullioned window with hoodmould.

Cross-gabled wings have been added at each end to form a courtyard, both of two storeys with attic. Attic windows in the gables are two-light recessed chamfered mullioned without hoodmoulds, with a slit vent above. The decorated vent head is formed by a notch in the stone lintel and two projecting pointed jamb stones. Fenestration below is generally in line with the gables, comprising two and three-light windows with hoodmoulds and leaded casements throughout.

The south-east wing features fenestration facing the courtyard as described above, with a blank north-east facing end gable containing a ridge chimney stack. The opposite wing has a similar gable with a pierced stone floral attic vent. The south side of the south-east wing is roofed in artificial stone slates and includes a canted mullioned and transomed bay window to the ground floor, with extensive decorative leadwork including a heraldic shield on the rainwater head. This wing reduces to a single storey with attic as it extends rearward, featuring a two-light window in a half-dormer gable and three and two-light windows on its return gable at the west end, with a slit vent in the gable above.

The gabled end of the original house facing south has a central chimney stack at the ridge matching a similar stack at the north end. Fenestration below is off-centre: a doorway with four-centred moulded arch and hood, a two-light chamfered mullioned window to the left with a similar two-light above.

A single-storey wing adjoins to the west, featuring a doorway with a flat stone porch hood on moulded stone brackets. Four-light mullioned windows with cavetto mouldings and hood flank the doorway, with a chimney at the ridge having a moulded cap. The west end of this wing is a late 20th-century sun room. A two-light recessed chamfered mullioned window at the rear of the wing faces the back courtyard.

The back elevation of the original house shows four windows with two-light chamfered mullioned attic windows without hoods in attic gables. Below are three-light windows in line with the gables, flanked by two two-light windows on the upper floor, all recessed chamfered mullioned with hoodmoulds. A central porch with hipped roof occupies the centre, with an additional doorway inserted to the left in the late 20th century.

A wing to the north of the back courtyard features four two-light chamfered mullioned windows with hoodmoulds and stone flat arches facing the court, with stone steps leading to an upper-level doorway at the end. On the north side is a single low-level three-light chamfered mullioned window with hoodmould and external protective grille.

The service wing to the north has undergone late 20th-century alteration but retains a doorway with four-centred arch and chamfered moulding.

Interior

The interior includes two rooms with plasterwork by Norman Jewson. The dining room ceiling features oak leaf patterning, while the library ceiling depicts Cotswold animals, notably including a monkey. The library contains panelling and bookcases by Sidney Barnsley. The dining room houses a three-light stained glass window by Morris & Company, designed by Edward Burne-Jones, depicting scenes from the life of Saint Cecilia.

Setting and Gardens

Terraced formal gardens were designed by Jewson and adjoin the house.

The building represents a late and exceptionally important example of the Arts and Crafts movement.