Stonards Farm (house), Epping

Summary

A multi-phase farmhouse, with fabric dating to the early C17 and a major period of remodelling in the mid-C19.

Reasons for Designation

The farmhouse at Stonards Farm, Epping, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* For its vernacular architecture and craftsmanship, particularly the survival of the early-C17 chimney stack and fireplaces;
* For the layering of architectural phases, including the late-C19 southern range with its surviving fixtures.

Historic interest:
* For its documented history since 1427;
* As an example of a C17 lobby-entry vernacular house, extended in the later-C19.

History

Stonards Farm existed as a farmstead at least as early as 1427 when it was given to a charity to provide support for the poor and for apprentices in the parish of Theydon Garnon. Although the administration of that charitable settlement would later form part of the Epping and Theydon Garnon Joint Charities, the land itself has never changed hands since its original endowment.

The earliest fabric on site dates to the early C17. This can be found in the north range of the house which displays (amongst other things) timberwork, brick chimneystacks and fireplaces dating to the C17. In 1641 the feoffees (a sort of feudal tenant) of Stonards Farm were responsible for the repair of Theydon Bridge.

The site was recorded as 'Stone house' on Chapman & André's 1777 map of Essex. The map shows the position of the house with a garden to its south, and a square farmyard with outbuildings on each side.

The first detailed maps showing the house are those of 1838 (the tithe apportionment map for the parish of Theydon Garnon), 1872 and 1873 (the 6” and 25” Ordnance Surveys). All of those maps show that the house historically had an L-shaped plan. This had been altered by 1895 when maps showed the house with a square plan consistent with the double-pile appearance it has today (2023).

The earlier L-shaped plan consisted of the existing north range and a south-western wing at right-angles to it. The southern wing was somewhat staggered and may have been the result of multiple phases of construction. Parts of this earlier wing may have been preserved in the exposed timber framing visible in the ground floor hallway.

The late-Victorian remodelling that created the current double-pile plan also included a conservatory extending south from the garden front (demolished by 1970). The remodelling was carried out in red brick, in contrast to the timber frame of the northern range.

In 1938 the house was mapped as Stonards Farm for the first time (in the 25" Ordnance Survey only, the former name was used on the 6" map).

The house underwent some further changes in the 1970s. Historic photographs show that in the middle of the C20 the front (north) elevation was covered in plain render. In the 1970s the render had been removed.

Details

A multi-phase farmhouse, with fabric dating to the early C17 and a major period of remodelling in the last quarter of the C19.

MATERIALS

The principal building materials are timber and red brick. The roofs are covered in plain tiles.

PLAN

The house is double-piled, and its earliest fabric was organised around a central lobby-entry.

EXTERIOR

The house is two storeys high with attics, three bays wide, and two bays deep. The double-pile roofs form two parallel ranges with gables to the east and west creating an M-Profile.

The front elevation faces north. It has a red brick plinth laid in stretcher bond, above which is a close studded timber frame. The studs are pegged and have carpenters' marks. There are C20 casement windows in each bay. At the centre of the ground floor is a C20 porch, timber framed with a tiled roof. A large brick ridge stack stands in-line with the central bay.

The east elevation is built of red brick laid in Flemish bond. It is formed from a pair of gables creating an M-Profile. The right-hand gable stands slightly proud of the left and has wooden casement windows. The left-hand gable has two-over-two wooden sash windows with horns and concealed boxes; there is a doorway at the lower right-hand side.

The southern, garden, elevation has a right-of-centre brick ridge-stack. The first floor has three two-over-two sash windows and the ground floor has four. At the time of inspection the walls were covered in creeper (2023).

The west elevation has an M-Profile of twin gables. The left-hand gable is covered in weatherboards. The right hand gable is built of red brick laid in Flemish bond; the apex is formed of a truncate end-stack. At ground floor is a small brick extension with a hipped, tiled roof and walls of red brick laid in stretcher bond.

INTERIOR

The interior reflects the multi-phased nature of the house. There is visible fabric from the C17 onwards. Within the northern range of the building at ground floor there are timber joists with lambs tongue stops (sandblasted in the 1970s).

There is a massive back-to-back brick chimney stack that rises through the centre of the northern range. Some parts of it have received localised repair or replacement, but there remain large original openings. On the east side at ground and first floor the fireplaces have wide four-centred arches built of chamfered brick.

Other features relating to the earliest phase of the building include some plank and batten doors, and the wide floor boards of the attics.

The other major phase within the interior relates to the C19 remodelling of the rear/garden range of the house. All of the joinery in the southern parts of the house dates to this period, including the staircase (with stick balusters and ramped handrail), four-panelled doors, panelled aprons beneath windows, and skirtings. The C19 fireplaces have simple surrounds with cast iron grates. At ground floor, the former kitchen areas have black and red quarry tiled floors.

At the junction between the two major phases of construction there are some exposed elements of the historic timber frame that have been recycled alongside the mid-C19 work.

Sources

Websites
"Theydon Garnon: Introduction," in A History of the County of Essex: Volume 4, Ongar Hundred, accessed 20/08/2024 from https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol4/pp258-262
Epping & Theydon Garnon Joint Charities: 'Our History', accessed 20/08/2024 from https://eppingjointcharities.org/our-history/

Other
1838 tithe apportionment map for the parish of Theydon Garnon
Chapman & André's 1777 map of Essex
OS Map sequences from 1872 and 1873 onwards (25" and 6" scales)

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