Ashman's Farm (EHER 7980)

A timber framed and plastered house of medieval origin with later alterations and additions including an early 17th century re-roof, rebuilt hall and inserted chimney stack, and 20th century restorations. Ashmans is the only pre-1600 house of a small, copyhold farming unit to survive in the parish of Woodham Walter. It consists of a late 15th or early 16th crosswing and a hall/service block which was renovated early in the 17th century and extended in the second half of the 18th century. The property is exceptionally well documented from the late 16th century to the present, allowing correlations to be made with the successive alterations to the house, the various types of wall infill and decoration, the archaeological finds, and to some extent the effects of change in farming practice.

August 1975. Grade II listed. A timber framed and plastered house of medieval origin with later alterations and additions including an early 17th century re-roof, rebuilt hall and inserted chimney stack, and 20th century restorations. The roof is covered in red plain tile. The house is of two storeys. Internally, there is exposed timber frame and a good 19th century cast iron fire/surround. An inventory of 1783 gives details of the rooms and their contents. It abuts the barn to the SE, see EHER 39101. <1> <2> <3> See photos <4>. 43 small sherds of late 13th/early 14th greyware were found under the floors of the farm house in 1977, during restoration, as follows: one under hall floor 15 sherds under parlour floor; 21 sherds under addition to parlour; one sherd from surface soil tips near house; 5 sherds from soil tips form floors of house. <2> <5> Pottery of a similar date was also found at Black Cottages, EHER 7982. Plan and elevations of house in SMR. <6> <7> Ashmans is the only pre-1600 house of a small, copyhold farming unit to survive in the parish of Woodham Walter. It consists of a late 15th or early 16th crosswing and a hall/service block which was renovated early in the 17th century. The crosswing was extended and an outshot added to the main block in the second half of the 18th century. The property is exceptionally well documented from the late 16th century to the present, allowing correlations to be made with the successive alterations to the house, the various types of wall infill and decoration, the archaeological finds, and to some extent the effects of change in farming practice. <8> Reports on the pottery, brick, tile, textiles, wallpaper fragments and other finds (including leather shoes concealed in a gap between the chimney stack and the adjacent timber-framed wall) are given in <8>. Also a report on the restoration <9>; correspondence from finds specialists <10> <11> and photos <12>. A 17th century, timber framed and plastered house with 'L-shaped' plan. <13> See also <14>.