Reed Farmhouse

CHRISTOW SX 88 SW 5/82 Reed Farmhouse II Farmhouse. Late medieval with very thorough 1973-4 alterations and partial rebuilding. Whitewashed rendered cob on stone rubble footings, granite entrance porch slate roof, gabled at ends ; right end stack and axial stack, Plan: Very altered. A 1973 report Dr N. Alcock prior to renovations indicates a hall to the left (stack backing on to passage), with a very long lower right end, subsequently divided between service rooms and a barn and a separate cottage at the right end ; 1 room plan rear wing off hall, rear right outshuts. The origins of the house are a late medieval open hall, probably floored in the C17, the suggested date of the rear left wing. The hall stack may have been inserted before the hall was floored (Laithwaite). The lower end (including the cottage) has been repartitioned and modernized but the hall and passage survive at the left end and smoke-blackened jointed crucks (not seen at time of survey, 1987) are said to survive. Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 5 window front. C20 porch to through passage to left of centre with fine 2-centred chamfered inner doorframe. 1-, 2- and 3-light C20 timber casements with glazing bars. Interior: Not thoroughly inspected at time of survey. The roughly dressed granite back of the hall stack is exposed in the passage, the remainder of the partition made up with a plank and muntin screen with doorframe. On the right side a chamfered doorframe leads into the former lower end and a recess marks a former stair leading to what was the loft over the lower end. The hall has a chamfered stopped crossbeam and open fireplace with a timber lintel relieving arch and C19 bread oven. Lower end modernized : rear wing, first floor and roofspace not inspected but may retain features of interest. A smoke-blackened jointed cruck is said to survive over the hall, a similar clean truss over the lower end. A survey record of the house by Dr N. Alcock, prior to renovations is deposited in the NMR. The report includes ground plan, elevation and photograph and illustrates shouldered head doors to the rear of the passage and into the lower end. A plank and muntin screen is also mentioned : these features not seen at time of survey but may survive if not in situ. An important medieval house with an unusual plan form wih no inner room and a semi- domestic, semi-agricultural lower end.

Listing NGR: SX8359683748