Lymore Farmhouse

Cadw's description

Location

Situated in Lymore Park, reached by long drive from crossroads on Chirbury Road.

History

Farmhouse situated immediately W of the site of the demolished Lymore, a very large timber-framed mansion, one of the last built in England, completed in 1675 for Edward, third Lord Herbert of Chirbury, to replace the house in Montgomery Castle destroyed in 1649. The mansion was demolished in the 1920s. This building is shown in old photograph as black and white with timbering presumably painted over the brickwork. The form of the house suggests that it may also be of C17 date.

Exterior

Farmhouse, divided into two, painted brick with slate roofs and brick chimneys, roughly square-plan with a narrow gabled wing projecting to left of W front. A big gabled range with two ridge stacks runs E-W at S, with W wall brickwork continuous with a range running N with N end brick stack, from which the NW wing projects. Finally a rear NE range is gabled to E, the gable paired with E gable of S range. Two storeys, with flat-headed small-paned windows, casements above, longer windows below. Narrow projecting gable to left has C19 or C20 bargeboards, a first floor casement pair and ground floor triple casement with top lights and a blocked cellar opening. Garden wall ramped up to left with cambered-headed doorway. Right return is windowless. Range at right angles has door in angle to left in wooden porch with two columns, cornice, and enclosed right side. Half-glazed door with four-pane overlight. Then main gable has matching bargeboards, two casement pairs above two sash windows with brick voussoirs, the one to left with small panes to imitate a cross-window, the one to right 4-pane, without the small panes. Lean-to on S wall with W end wall matching wall against opposite N end, with ramped coping, one similar 4-pane sash to W.
Lean-to is against left half of S wall with a later C19 porch against E end. Stuccoed wall to right, with two first floor long casement pairs, over ground floor centre right big three-light C19 mullion-and-transom window and brick lean-to bay to right with modern large 4-light window. Rear elevation with two conjoined white-washed gables, left one with lean-to, the right one with two casement pairs above and one to ground floor left, all with gauged brick heads.
N elevation has a wide slate-hung gable, the slate-hanging possibly concealing timber-framed construction further suggested by the timber post between the two casement pairs to right of brick chimney breast, one also to left. Ground floor has lean-to of brick with a brick chimney rising from roof to right (against side of NW projecting wing). N elevation of range to left of gable is also slate hung but has exposed timber-framing of slender scantling with brick infilling exposed in ground floor.

Interior

Large ceiling beams, one with three-inch chamfer. Not all of the interior inspected at time of re-survey.

Reason for designation

Included for its special interest as a substantial farmhouse of early origins, the principal surviving building of Lymore, and with good traditional character.