Rodd, Nash, and Little Brampton

64 RODD, NASH, AND LITTLE BRAMPTON (B.c.)

(O.S. 6 in. ^(a)X, N.E., ^(b)X, S.E.)

Rodd, Nash, and Little Brampton is a parish on the W. border of the county 3 m. N. of Kington. Rodd Court, Upper Nash Farm and Little Brampton are the principal monuments.

Secular

^a(1). Rodd Court (Plate 163), house and outbuildings, in the N. part of the parish. The House is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are partly of stone and partly of red brick, and the roofs are covered with stone slates. It was built c. 1629 and is of L-shaped plan with the wings extending towards the N.E. and S.E. The house was restored in 1913.

The house is a complete example of its period, and contains interesting internal fittings.

The N.E. front of the S.E. wing (Plate 164) is of brick with a stone plinth and some stone dressings. The gabled porch is of three storeys and retains one old moulded barge-board. The entrance archway is round-headed, and above it is a window of four transomed lights with moulded frame and mullions; the head is cut with a double series of dentils; the gable has a three-light window of similar character. Flanking the porch are five-light transomed windows, and there are original gabled dormers in the roof, one of which has old moulded barge-boards. The entrance-doorway in the porch has a moulded oak frame with the date 1629 carved on the lintel; the nail-studded door is of eight moulded panels. The other fronts have windows similar to those already described, some of them partly restored. The return of the N.E. wing is brick-faced, but the other fronts are of stone; the S.W. side has been largely re-built. The N.E. gable has old moulded barge-boards. Two of the chimney-stacks retain their old brick shafts set diagonally.

Interior—The Library, in the N.E. wing, is lined with original panelling, finished with a small cornice; the fireplace (Plate 165) has some herring-bone brickwork at the back; it is flanked by coupled Ionic pilasters supporting the overmantel, which has an enriched frieze below the shelf and three bays above divided by panelled pilasters and flanked by coupled Ionic pilasters; the side bays are arcaded, but the middle bay has a cartouche of the arms of Rodd impaling Kirkham, for Richard Rodd (died 1673) and Barbara (Kirkham) his wife. In the adjoining corridor are some original doorways with moulded frames and battened doors with mouldings planted on. The room next to the library is lined with original panelling; the fireplace has stone jambs and an oak lintel with a moulded cornice and shelf above. The room to the S.W. has original panelling on two walls. The Dining-room has a ceiling of three bays with a moulded panel in the middle bay; the walls are lined with original panelling and there are two original moulded door-frames and doors. The Hall has a doorway with an original moulded frame and a panelled door with strap-hinges; the fireplace has stone jambs and an oak lintel. The inner porch is formed by a panelled partition and has a moulded door. The ceiling-beams, generally, are plain. On the first floor, the Drawing-room at the end of the N.E. wing, is lined with original panelling and finished with a plaster entablature enriched with wyverns in pairs; the ceiling (Plates 72, 162) is divided into two bays by a moulded and enriched plastered beam; the bays have enriched bands forming angular panels and having fleur-de-lis at some of the points; the N.E. bay of the ceiling is a restoration; the fireplace (Plate 165) is flanked by pilasters with standing figures of men in the costume of Charles I; the overmantel is of two enriched arcaded bays divided and flanked by columns with vine-enrichment, supporting an entablature; in the arched bays are figures of Adam and Eve, the serpent being carved on the central column; the door to the corridor has ornamental strap-hinges. Other rooms on this floor have exposed framing and ceiling-beams, original fireplaces and some original door-frames and doors. The staircase (Plate 73) is original and has flat shaped balusters, plain strings and square newels, some with acorn terminals.

The Barn, E. of the house, is of the 17th century and of five bays, timber-framed and weather-boarded. On the opposite side of the yard are some two-storeyed cattle-sheds and stables, also timber-framed, and of the same period, but altered at a later date.

Condition—Good.

^a(2). Cottage (Plate 30), 40 yards N.W. of (1), is of two storeys, timber-framed and with a roof of stone slates. A mediæval crutch-truss is incorporated in the building, but the structure generally is of late 16th or 17th-century date. The timber-framing is mostly exposed and the upper storey projects at each end of a small western cross-wing. Some of the ceiling-beams are exposed and parts of the crutch-truss are to be seen between the main block and the cross-wing.

Condition—Fairly good.

^a(3). Wegnall Mill, 420 yards N. of (1), is of three storeys, partly of stone and partly timber-framed and weather-boarded; the roofs are slate-covered. It dates probably from the 17th century, but has been much altered.

Condition—Fairly good.

^a(4). The Folly, cottage, on the N. edge of the parish, ½ m. N.W. of (1), is of one storey with attics; the walls are of stone and the roofs are slate-covered. The N.E. part of the building is of late 17th or early 18th-century date with later additions to the S.W.

Condition—Fairly good.

^a(5). Nash Court, house and barn, at Nash on the N.W. side of the parish. The House is of two storeys with cellars; the walls are of stone and the roofs are slate-covered. The outline of the house is of mediæval type, but there is nothing in the existing building which seems to be earlier than late in the 16th or early in the 17th century. There is a 17th-century addition on the N.W. The main block has cross-wings at the N.E. and S.W. ends. Inside the building are some exposed ceiling-beams.

The Barn, on the W. side of the farmyard, is of the 17th century, timber-framed and weather-boarded.

Condition—Good.

^a(6). Upper Nash Farm, house, 140 yards S.S.W. of (5), is of two storeys, timber-framed and with slate-covered roofs. The middle part of the house is of mediæval origin, the two middle bays, and possibly the S.W. bay also, being of this date. About the middle of the 16th century one of the middle bays was heightened, gabled and roofed across the line of the main building; the central chimney-stack was inserted in the 16th century. The house was extended towards the N.E. in the 17th century, and there is a modern addition at the S.W. end. On the N.W. front the altered 16th-century bay has a projecting gable with brackets at either end supported on small twisted shafts on the wall-posts; the first floor also projects on a moulded and enriched bressummer; the side posts have enriched and shaped pendants and brackets; below the northern bracket is an attached shaft and capital. The timber-framing is exposed on most of the S.E. front; in it is an early 17th-century doorway with a moulded frame and above it is a gable of the same date. Inside the building are some exposed ceiling-beams; the S.E. room in the central cross-wing has moulded plaster panels on the ceiling; the other room in the wing has an early 17th-century overmantel (Plate 51) of six enriched arcaded bays, divided and flanked by terminal figures and with an arabesque frieze above; both rooms are lined with early 17th-century panelling. On the first floor, a bedroom has an early 17th-century overmantel (Plate 51) of four bays similar to those described above but with an enriched and bracketed frieze. Parts of two mediæval crutch-trusses are visible in the middle section of the building.

Condition—Fairly good.

^a(7) Cottage, 100 yards E. of (5), is of one storey with attics; the walls are timber-framed and the roofs covered with stone slates. It was built in the 17th century with a cross-wing at the N.E. end. Much of the timber-framing and some ceiling-beams are exposed.

Condition—Fairly good.

^a(8). Smithy, 30 yards N.E. of (7), is of two storeys, timber-framed and roofed with stone slates. It was built in the 17th century, but the S.W. end has been re-built in stone. Some of the timber-framing is exposed.

Condition—Good.

^b(9). Little Brampton, house and outbuilding, on the W. side of the parish. The House is of two storeys, timber-framed and roofed with stone slates. It was built about the middle of the 16th century with a two-storeyed Hall-block and cross-wings at the N.E. and S.W. ends. Early in the 17th century the staircase-wing was added on the N.W. side and a small addition made on the S.E. side. Late in the 17th century the house was extended towards the S.W.; this wing, like the staircase-wing, has stone walls. The N.W. front (Plate 25) is original in its N.E. part; the cross-wing has a projecting upper storey and gable; the upper storey has a bressummer carved with conventional scrolled foliage, supported by curved brackets with shaped posts below them; the projecting gable rests on shaped brackets springing from shafts attached to the wall-posts. The upper storey of the central block also projects on curved brackets, one retaining remains of the shaft on the wall-post below it; the upper storey also has shafted wall-posts. The S.E. front (Plate 25) is similar to but simpler than the N.W. front; the end of the S.W. cross-wing has a projecting upper storey and gable, but with a plain bressummer and remains of shafts below it; the projecting gable rests on curved brackets also with remains of shafts on the wall-posts below; the treatment of the main block is similar to that on the N.W. front. The 17th-century porch has a projecting upper storey with a moulded bressummer. Inside the building the ceiling-beams and some of the timber-construction are exposed. There is some early 17th-century panelling, and a room on the first floor is lined with late 17th-century bolection-moulded panelling. The early 17th-century main staircase has flat shaped balusters and square moulded newels with shaped tops.

The Outbuilding, adjoining and extending N.W. from the S.W. end of the house, is partly of brick and partly of stone. On the N.W. side is a stone panel inscribed, "Johan~e Robinson hanc structurā edificavit Anō. Dom~. 1687." There are also two 17th-century timber-framed barns.

Condition—Good.

^b(10). Cottage, 120 yards N. of (9), is of one storey with attics; the walls are mainly timber-framed and the roofs are covered with stone slates. It was built in the 17th century, and has some exposed ceiling-beams. There is a timber-framed barn of the same period S.W. of the cottage.

Condition—Good.

^b(11). Cottage, 120 yards S.S.W. of (9), is of one storey with attics; the walls are of stone and the roofs are tiled. It was built late in the 17th or early in the 18th century, and has some exposed ceiling-beams.

Condition—Good.

^a(12). Ashley, house and barn, on the E. edge of the parish. The House is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are partly timber-framed and partly of stone, and the roofs are slate-covered. It is of T-shaped plan with the cross-wing at the E. end; the cross-wing was built early in the 17th century, and the main block seems to have been added or re-built about the middle of the century when the cross-wing also was altered. There are various modern additions. The upper storey formerly projected at the N. end of the cross-wing but has been under-built; it has an original moulded bressummer and there is a moulded beam at the base of the projecting gable. Some of the framing is exposed on the E. front, and in the S. gable of the cross-wing is a panel inscribed 1652, I.A., E.A., probably the date of some alteration. Inside the building are some exposed ceiling-beams.

The Barn, W. of the house, is of the 17th century, timber-framed, and of five bays.

Condition—Good.

Unclassified

^b(13). Scutch Ditch, earthwork on the E. of Scutchditch Wood, near the S. edge of the parish, consists of a steep-scarped bank, a ditch to the S. and a very slight bank on the counter-scarp. It extends for about 200 yards in a direction E.N.E. of the angle of the wood. There seems no reason to connect it with Offa's Dyke.

Condition—Bad, ditch almost obliterated.