Building record HUN 019 - Gunstocks, The Street

Gunstocks is a grade II listed timber-framed house of the late-16th and early-17th centuries that preserves a number of historically important features. Its finely carved and jettied porch, which bears the date 1619 and the initials J S, is among the most impressive of its kind in the county, and retains an exceptionally rare section of original foliate pargeting. The entire building would have been decorated in this flamboyant manner, and the present external exposure of its timbers is the result of a misguided 20th century restoration. The initials are almost certainly those of John Symper, a yeoman farmer who made his will in 1676, when 'aged and infrime', and left a remarkable inventory which details the contents of the house on his death. The various rooms described n this document are still recognisable today, with a parlour to the left of the main chimney and a hall and buttery to the right. A fourth room, which served as a bake-house and now operates as a kitchen, was added to the right-hand gable in the late-17th century. The parlour is slightly older than the rest of the structure, and was originally divided into two smaller rooms which apparently formed the hall and buttery of a late-16th century house before adopting its present role during an early-17th century refurbishment. Evidence of similar alterations can be found in many contemporary farmhouses, and illustrates the period's general improvement in domestic comfort. Although concealed externally, the timber frame was exposed internally at first, but later covered by insulating plaster; a small fraction of mid-17th century ceiling plaster which is hidden in the chimney cupboard (and escaped the 20th century restoration accordingly) preserves are apotopaic marks drawn in candle soot that were intended to protect the house from evil spirits (S1).