Hamsey Place Farmhouse

Description

The north, south and western elevations of Hamsey Place Farmhouse are tile-hung from just above two courses of heavy blocks of stone (?Caen) which form the footings. The western roof slope is of Horsham stone. There is a two-storey parallel range along the eastern elevation, the eastern slope of this being in Horsham stone. The roofs join with a valley, the remainder being tiled. This parallel range ends in a single-storey lean-to at the south-eastern end.

The front elevation (from the north) has 4 pairs of windows (ground and first), the front door with window above, and another 2 pairs of windows. A photograph of 1971 has no northern ground floor window (where there is a well) and a pair of half-width windows just north of the door. There is a large attic window on the southern end, and a smaller window in the northern gable lighting the stair. A northern end stack has at least 2 flues, and a large 4-flue stack is level with the front door. There was a stack serving an oven and copper etc in the northern half of the rear range.

Internally there is evidence for seven bays, with 3 ground floor partition walls. There is also a large tie and mid-tie at for the end chimney bay. Three mid-ties show no evidence for any partitioning, and one at least is stop-chamfered. There is mortice evidence in both posting and side-girts on the eastern side strongly suggesting that the eastern range is second-phase, or at least in its two-storey form.

The main stack, stair to first floor and doorway on the west elevation form a typical 'baffle-entry'. The large ingle-nook hearth has a fine ovolo moulding along the bressumer run out to points, evidence for a spit-jack fixing to the eastern side, and some ritual protection markings. In the chamber above, an axial girder with ovolo moulding is supported in the stack above a small hearth. A short length of stone with egg-and-dart type fluting has been fixed above the ground-floor hearth. There is a small register plate cast iron hearth at first floor.

The earliest stair to the attic is east of the northern stack. The roof over the northern half of the building is constructed with in-line butt purlins with the rafters framed in (high and low), and high collars to the principal rafters. The two storey eastern range has staggered butt-purlins. Both ranges are without ridge boards. On the southern end wall the first rafter for the lean-to is visible, with mortice evidence to suggest earlier butt-purlins northwards.

Conclusions

This is a good quality post-medieval build, always floored throughout, of the baffle-entry type, and with a fully useable attic. There are three living spaces on the ground floor, each of two-bays, and were probably originally intended as 'services' (north) 'hall' (central) and 'parlour' (south), with 'chambers' above, echoing the medieval plan. The earliest main stair would have been in the bay between the hall and parlour, and the earliest stair to the attic was typically from the services by the end stack. Initially there may have been a lean-to with a catslide roof along part or all of the rear elevation.

The second phase consisted of building up/extending the rear lean-to into a two-storey parallel range, possibly at a time when the house was used by an extended family.

The roof style of the original range is found from just before 1600 to 1700; ovolo moulding is used during the period 1570-1700; the piece of stone moulding over the 'parlour' hearth is a type found after 1570, and may be part of a hearth original to the house; the roof style over the second range is found from 1650 through the 1700s.

The preferred date for the original build would be first half 1600s, apparently using material from the old manor house for footings. The parallel range would have been constructed before 1750, still being without a ridge board.

Hamsey Place Farmhouse in the 1920s

Tithe Data

391 House, Buildings etc.
(Hamsey Place Farmhouse)

1841 Census

Tenement Analysis

Buildings

Archaeology

Old Maps

Further Information