Farm Store And Cider House, North West Of Taynton House

This is a late 17th or very early 18th century farm store and cider house located north-west of Taynton House. It is constructed of English bond brickwork with a stone slate roof. The building is a long, two-storey range, one room deep. It features clasping pilaster buttresses at each end, a bullnose plinth, and a plain string course at first floor level.

The facade facing the courtyard has a wide, boarded door with an elliptical brick arch above, flanked by pilaster buttresses. There are three slit air vents on either side of the door. Above the door is a further boarded door with a segmental brick arch, followed by three slit air vents. The first floor has central buttresses that rise to the eaves, supporting two-light mullion and transom windows with cambered brick arches set under small gables, each topped with a stone ball finial. There are eight slit air vents on each side of the first floor. Steps lead down to a cellar, with an entrance in the left gable.

The right return has a wide, elliptical-headed opening in the centre, with a brick arch over, flanked by pilaster buttresses rising to the verge of the gable above. Stone hinge blocks are present in the jambs. Double-boarded doors are accessed by a stone step from a concrete ramp, with half-glazed sections above and an iron grill in a stone surround over lighting chutes leading to the cellar. A main string course is missing above this opening; above it are three slit air vents and a shuttered square opening with a cambered brick arch. The gable has a plain string course part-way up and further slit air vents above, topped with a stone ball finial.

The rear of the building is divided into five equal sections by pilaster buttresses. A large projection for a fireplace was originally present in the centre, though the chimney has since been removed.

The interior includes a room on the right dedicated to cider pressing and milling, a smaller room in the centre, and two rooms to the left. The centre room has a stone-paved floor with a trap door to the cellar and wooden stairs to the upper floor. A loft stands over the two end bays on the left at eaves level. The roof structure consists of collar and tie-beam trusses, two pairs of purlins and a square ridge. The cellar runs beneath the entire building, featuring a segmental brick vault with a mix of solid wall and a five-bay elliptical arched arcade with 450mm square columns supporting the vault’s crown. A square brick drain exits from the right-hand end. Footings of inserted walls are found in the two right bays.

This is a rare and significant early example of a cider house, with fabric that has remained largely unaltered. It forms an important group with two other contemporary brick farm buildings and the main house.