Chapman Headstone, 3 Yards N of Church of St Dunstan England, UK

Listed Building Description

Text courtesy of Historic England. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

Barn, later converted into a house. C16, extended in C17 to the south west and converted to a house in late C20.

MATERIALS: Timber-framed, clad in weatherboarding on brick plinth, the north western part of the outshot of stone rubble, with plain tiled roof, hipped with gablet to north and half-hipped to south, and with deep catslide to west.

PLAN: Five bays, the northern three bays earliest, the southern two bays with separately framed roof and full length outshot to west.

EXTERIOR: Wagon doors to east now glazed-in with smaller late C20 wooden arched doorcase inserted in the centre and lower wagon doors to west replaced by French windows. The wall frame has had a number of wooden casements inserted. The western roof slope has had four Velux rooflights inserted, a cylindrical metal chimney flue inserted to the north west and a soil vent to the bathroom to the north east.

INTERIOR: The wall frame and roof survive substantially intact with jowled upright posts and curved windbraces to the wall frame and queenpost roof structure. The northern part has two tiers of purlins, the upper ones supported by windbraces, the southern bays have staggered purlins and central angled queenstrut. There is a late C20 inserted ceiling and plastered partitions using reused timbers, a herringbone brick partition, a brick chimney and an inserted staircase of solid oak treads with diagonally placed balusters inserted into the cart bay.

HISTORY: Originally this was a barn to Downlands Farm and was at some stage in the ownership of the Preston estate. It was converted into a house in the late C20.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: A timber-framed barn of five bays of C16 and C17 date. Although converted into a house in the late C20 the timber frame remains substantially intact; for this good survival of pre-1700 fabric, the house has special architectural interest at Grade II.