Building record RAT 065 - Corner Farmhouse

Corner Farmhouse a grade II-listed timber-framed structure of the mid-17th and early-18th centuries that was derelict for many years and underwent very extensive renovation in circa 2000. The property is named only as ‘unoccupied house 170 m south of St Margaret’s Priory’ in the 1988 Schedule of Listed Buildings, which records its condition as ‘poor’. Despite its unfortunate recent history the building retains much of its historic fabric and integrity, and represents a good example of a relatively modest 17th century farmhouse that possessed just 12 acres of land in 1838. It contains a central hall and service bay of circa 1640-60, with evidence of a single, central service door and a back door in the cross-passage position. The original ‘high-end’ chimney probably contained a single fireplace as it was rebuilt half a century later when the present parlour was added to the east. The early-18th century chimney survives intact with three original fireplaces, but much of the internally exposed wall framing is modern. The entire rear elevation and the service partition have been rebuilt with old timber, and the house is clad in smooth cement render (replacing the cable-pattern pargeting mentioned in the list description). Although its rectangular outline is ostensibly unaltered, the building is shown with a central rear wing or lean-to on the tithe map of 1838 and it may have possessed an additional storage room or attached bake-house in this position from the outset (S1).