Coombe Farmhouse

MORETONHAMPSTEAD SX 78 NE 2/78 Coombe Farmhouse (formery listed as - Coombe Court Farmhouse) 23.8.55 GV II

Farmhouse. C17 or earlier with probably late C17, C18 and C19 additions. Granite rubble walls, lightly rendered and roughcast in places. Thatched roof with gable ends and 1 hip to left-hand wing. Gable, formerly axial, stack at front is constructed of granite blocks with capping and drip-course below and dripmoulds at base. Brick chimney to right-hand wing. Complex plan and development. Originally 3-room-and-through-passage with hall stack backing onto passage; at some stage the passage and lower end was demolished. Circa late C17 unheated wing added at front of inner room. Probably C18 wing added at rear of hall and the house turned around so that this became the front. C19 extension beyond this wing and the single storey outbuilding which was attached to its far side incorporated in late C20 into accommodation. 2 storeys. The present asymmetrical 2-window front consists of the C18 wing with the lower end of the hall to the left. C19 2-light casements with small panes. Early C20 gabled porch at centre with windows and part-glazed door behind it and window to the right. On the ground floor the left-hand section incorporates the back of the hall stack, typically constructed of granite ashlar with chamfered plinth. The left-hand side of the house is the original front and is irregular with two 2-light C20 casements on the ground floor and 1 above to the left, all with small panes. Wing projects from the left-hand side, has small 2-light late C19/early C20 casements on first floor and C19 12-pane sash on the ground floor to right of centre. C19 extension is set back from right gable end and beyond it single storey outbuilding has been incorporated into the house. Interior contains some C17 features. Hall fireplace has heavy timber lintel with rough chamfer, monolithic granite jamb to left end and oven in right-hand side with stone arched opening. ½-beam above fireplace with deep chamfer and bar and hollow step stops. Identical central cross beam. At upper end of hall is plank and muntin screen at present exposed only on the higher side where it is only roughly worked. Inner room has central longitudinal beam with narrow chamfer. Above the screen is stud partition, possibly contemporary. This house retains an unspoilt facade with traditional windows and may well have a medieval roof.

Listing NGR: SX7543187025