Building record WSS 034 - Ashtree Farm, Halesworth Road

Ashtree Farmhouse is a grade II-listed timber-framed structure which contains a parlour of the late-16th century to the left (west) and a slightly taller hall and service structure of the early-17th century to the right. The parlour was originally built against a medieval hall on the same site. The house was of Yeoman status, and its 17th century attic chamber was lit by large, fashionable gable dormers which commanded fine views of the Blyth valley to the south. The building has been much altered and its historic interest lies chiefly in the extent to which it illustrates the changing nature of domestic and architectural fashion over four centuries. It underwent a major refurbishment in the late-Georgian period, was extended to the rear in the mid-19th century and dramatically renovated in the Mock Gothic style in the early-20th century before being further extended to create the present symmetrical façade in the mid-20th century. The house was initially rendered externally, and the present exposed studwork consists only of nailed planks.
The timber-framed barn which flanks the approach to the house is a fine and largely intact example of the early-17th century that contained an integral stable and merits listing in its own right. A brick outhouse to the west of the house was constructed in the mid-19th century, probably as a combined wash-house and bake-house, but has been heavily altered; its historic value is now limited to its external appearance which (arguably) forms a significant visual component of a group of traditional farm buildings with a uniform series of pantiled roofs. This group includes a rare stable and shelter shed of the mid-18th century, which retains a number of early fittings in its first-floor granary, and an early-20th century stable with an unusual series of painted stalls.