Church Hill, 16 Church Hill Road, Carnacavill, Newcastle, BT33 0JU

Church Hill is a rambling, slightly eclectic, roughly U-shaped, two-storey gabled farmhouse, originally built around 1740 and significantly extended and altered in subsequent centuries. It sits at the head of a long driveway on a slight rise to the east of Church Hill Road, and its long history of additions gives it a characterful, asymmetrical appearance.

THE BUILDING'S DEVELOPMENT

The house was built around 1740 by a James Cunningham. The original structure appears to have comprised the central and right-hand two thirds of what is now the main front section. At some point around 1790, a drawing room wing was added to the southern end — valuers in the 1830s classified this section as grade B, suggesting it was already well over thirty years old by that point. In the 1830s, when surveyed for valuation purposes, the house measured 57 feet by 21 feet by 16 feet, with three long rows of single-storey outbuildings to the south and west, one of which appears from contemporary Ordnance Survey maps to have been attached to the house itself. At that time the property had a rateable value of £14-18-0 and remained in the hands of the Cunningham family.

Shortly after this survey, and before 1842, the house was sold to a Miss Elizabeth Small, who remained there until sometime between 1863 and 1886. The next owner, a Mr McKnight, appears to have added the long rear return to the north side — much of which was originally used as an outbuilding — along with the present outbuildings. Around 1910 McKnight sold the property to a Dr John Waring Bassett, though he retained much of the surrounding farmland formerly associated with the building. Dr Bassett's widow sold the property in 1933 to the father of the present owner, who shortly afterwards carried out the most significant alterations: adding the gabled section and other projections to the rear, repositioning the front entrance and placing a porch around it, enlarging the hallway by absorbing the rooms formerly on either side of it, and raising the height of the bay at the gable of the drawing room.

THE FRONT (EAST) FAÇADE

The front façade is asymmetrical and divided into four sections by the positions of the chimney stacks. Bay 1, to the far left, appears at first glance to be single storey but in fact contains a high-ceilinged drawing room with a bedroom partly within the roof structure above. This bay may date from the late 18th century. Bays 2 and 3, in the centre, are considered to be the original mid-18th-century portion of the building. Bay 4, to the far right, is a later addition, possibly after 1860. Bays 1 to 3 share the same ridge line. Bay 4 is two storeys but sits at a lower level and is set well back from the main elevation. The three chimney stacks are rendered and potless; in their upper portions, the individual flues are set at 45 degrees in plan.

The decorative entrance porch was added in the 1930s and sits just left of centre. It has narrow half-glazed double doors with glazed side panels and timber apron panels. The segmental arched roof is supported on turned timber columns resembling table legs. Above the doors is a segmental arched radial fanlight, and the semicircular fascia carries a scallop decoration to both its upper and lower faces. The original doorway was positioned further to the right.

To the left of the porch, in bay 1, is a tall single-storey canted bay window with a hipped roof, which appears to be covered in a polymer roofing material. Each face of this bay has a Georgian-paned six-over-six sash window. The windows sit on a cill course and a fine string course runs above the window heads.

To the right of the porch, at ground-floor level in bays 2 and 3, are four tall, unevenly spaced four-over-four sash windows. At first-floor level are five similarly sized, unevenly spaced four-over-four sash windows, which are relatively tall for upper-storey openings and reach up to the eaves. In bay 4, at ground-floor level, is a smaller sash window with horizontal glazing bars in a two-panes-over-two arrangement, with security bars fitted over it. At first-floor level in bay 4 are two smaller sash windows with vertical glazing bars in a two-over-two arrangement.

THE SOUTH ELEVATION

The south elevation is double pile and has a canted two-storey bay to each gable. The left-hand bay sits slightly forward of the right-hand bay and is shorter and broader. It has three eight-over-eight Georgian-paned sash windows at first-floor level, with a similar window to each side at ground-floor level and a double French door to the front face. Above the French door is a radial fanlight. The right-hand bay has three six-over-six Georgian-paned sash windows at first-floor level, with similarly styled but taller sash windows to the front and right side at ground-floor level.

Between the two bays is a small three-sided sun porch, flat-roofed, with Georgian-style paned glazing to the side panels and to the French doors. It is entered internally through a door — formerly a window — to the left of the right-hand bay. A chimney stack, matching those on the front elevation, sits within the roof valley. Each gable has a projecting copestone to the verge.

THE NORTH ELEVATION

To the far left of the north elevation is the exposed section of the north gable, which was probably originally fully exposed. It has a small sash window with vertical two-over-two glazing bars at both ground and first-floor levels, and a tiny fixed-light window at attic level. Immediately to the right is a gable — that of bay 4 described above — with one two-over-two sash window to the upper left and two four-over-four sash windows at first-floor level set at slightly differing heights. To the left, this gable merges with a tall, harled garden wall with an arched pedestrian gate. To the right, the gable is abutted by a long two-storey return.

The return has three three-over-three sash windows at first-floor level. At ground-floor level there are four windows, then a timber-sheeted door, then a further window to the far right. The first, second and fourth windows from the left have sash frames with Georgian panes; the third and fifth windows have modern frames with Georgian-style panes. The openings on this side of the return have a notably irregular layout. The west gable of the return has a lean-to garage attached at ground-floor level and two windows at first-floor level, the larger of which has a modern frame and the smaller a sash frame with vertical two-over-two glazing bars.

THE SOUTH FACE OF THE RETURN

The south façade of the return has three sash windows to the centre and right at first-floor level. The first and second windows have three-over-three panes, and the third — though smaller — has four-over-four panes. To the centre and right at ground-floor level are two windows with a timber-sheeted door between them. The right-hand window appears to have a modern frame with Georgian-style panes; the other has a sash frame with Georgian panes in a six-over-six arrangement. The left-hand portion of this façade, along with the south face of the lean-to garage, is largely obscured by plant growth. The right-hand side of the façade projects forward, and at the junction of this projection and the main façade rises a tall rendered chimney stack.

THE REAR (WEST) ELEVATION

The rear elevation is very complex and shows clear signs of having been added to repeatedly. To the left it is abutted by the long return. Immediately to the right of this is the only exposed section of what is likely part of the original house, corresponding to bay 3 on the front. This has a small lean-to porch at ground-floor level with a partly glazed door to the west and a small modern window to the shorter south face. At first-floor level are two narrow four-over-four sash windows set at different heights.

Immediately to the right of this original section is a tall flat-roofed stairwell projection that rises well above eaves level, probably dating from the 1930s. It has a tall six-over-six Georgian-paned sash window at stair-landing level, with a similar but shorter window above. To its immediate right is a shorter but broader flat-roofed section, also probably from the 1930s, which projects even further forward. This has a sash window — similar in character to the others — at both ground and first-floor level on its west face, and another at ground-floor level on its north face. To the south, this projection is attached to the gable of the large projection visible on the south elevation, which was added in the 1930s. This has a sash window to the left at first-floor level on its west face, and this face also carries a broad but shallow projection that allows for an internal arched recess.

MATERIALS AND EXTERNAL DETAILS

The entire building is mainly finished in roughcast render and painted. The gabled roofs are all covered in natural slate. Cast-iron rooflights are fitted to the rear of the roof of the main front section. Cast-iron rainwater goods are used throughout. Single-storey whitewashed rubble outbuildings stand to the north and west. A decorative mid-19th-century garden gate is located to the south. The long entrance driveway is flanked by simple rounded gate piers with pointed caps, and the wrought-iron gates match the style of the garden gate.