Bowden Farmhouse

Bowden Farmhouse

A farmhouse originally built as a longhouse, dating from the late 15th century with late 16th and early 17th-century modifications and 19th-century alterations. The building stands as a two-storey structure with a gabled roof.

The exterior is constructed partly from granite rubble and partly from granite ashlar, with the ashlar concentrated towards the centre of the front wall and at the lower gable end, although the top of the gable is granite rubble. A granite rubble stack is set slightly in from the lower right gable end, featuring a drip-mould and drip-course, probably dating from the 19th century. A granite block central axial stack sits off-set from the ridge with drip-moulds. A rendered stack at the higher gable end is probably brick. The roof is of slate with gable ends. The front elevation is asymmetrical with five windows, all 20th-century 3-light casements with glazing bars except for the ground and first floor left which are 2-light. A 20th-century part-glazed door to the through passage stands to the right of centre, set within a 20th-century porch with a gabled roof. A 20th-century part-glazed door into the inner room to the left is housed in a lean-to stone porch. At the rear, the passage doorway to the left of centre has been narrowed. To the right of it on the first floor is a 2-light wood mullioned window to the stairs, chamfered on the inside and containing old glass. At the lower gable end is a central drain opening at ground level.

The original longhouse plan comprised a shippon, through passage, hall and inner room, open to the roof from end to end with low partitions and a central hearth in the hall. The interior was floored-in probably in the early 17th century, and a stack was inserted in the hall backing onto the passage. The shippon was converted to domestic accommodation probably in the 19th century, at which time a stack was also inserted at the higher end.

The interior contains three high-quality medieval roof trusses spanning the shippon, hall and partition to the inner room. The two lower trusses are jointed crucks with very pronounced curves, chamfered on either side and smoke-blackened, as is the ridge which has been trenched by splitting each truss at the top and pegging it back together. The third truss has a straight principal to the rear, equally substantial. All three have threaded purlins. The two lower trusses have strengthening blocks beneath their apexes, also chamfered; the one over the hall is considerably smaller. The higher end truss has had a partition constructed beneath it and appears to have no strengthening block. The two higher trusses have a high cambered collar morticed into the trusses and chamfered both on the soffit and the top.

The hall retains a granite-framed fireplace with a massive undecorated lintel and splayed jambs roughly chamfered, with an oven in the right-hand side. A cross beam features quite a narrow chamfer with worn stops. A partially exposed hall beam at the higher end has a deep chamfer, with a partition built up underneath it. The inner room contains a double 19th-century fireplace with segmental brick arches; one originally contained the copper, the other the range.

Although the shippon has been converted in this longhouse, it retains evidence of its original identity, and the survival of all three original trusses is fairly unusual in a longhouse. The form of the jointed cruck and its apex, along with the simple decoration to the timbers, are particularly noteworthy.