Merrifield House, Front Boundary Wall And Adjacent Stile

Merrifield House, along with its front boundary wall and adjacent stile, is a detached house located in Bower Hinton, dating from the 17th century. The building is constructed of ham stone ashlar, with some cut and squared work, and features a thatched roof between coped gables, supported by brick chimney stacks on stone bases. It stands two storeys high with an attic and has four bays, with the third and fourth bays made of ashlar. The windows are ovolo-mould mullioned, with three lights above, except for the first bay which has two lights. The second and fourth bays have four-light windows under separate labels, while the lower third bay includes a 19th-century angled bay window with plain sashes and a stepped hipped stone roof. The first bay has a moulded cambered-arched doorway with a square label over a deep lintel, featuring an early 20th-century part-glazed door. The south gable has three-light hollow-chamfer mullioned windows, and there is a single-storey extension against the north gable, topped with a triple roll clay tile roof. Although the interior was not seen, it is reported to have a modified internal plan, including a fine ogee-mould flat arched fireplace in the south room and collar beam trusses. Approximately 2.5 meters from the house is a stone wall about 1.2 meters high, with curved sweeps leading back to the house, topped with thin shaped coping. Opposite the doorway, there are two square piers with stepped tops ending in ball finials. A low stone stile at the north-west corner provides access to the public footpath that runs along the north side of the property, enhancing the setting of the house.