| Description | Oldfield, Warley. Stone house dated 1683.
'Traditional stone structure with stone roof. 2 storeys. Main (south) side has mullioned windows (partly altered) and arched doorway, all with dripmould. Barn to west probably C18 with arched opening and Venetian window over. East end built into hillside. Plain gabled rear wing'.
(English Heritage listed building description. Date listed 03/11/1954. http://list.english heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1254047. Web site accessed 23/01/2014).
Oldfield was the subject of an archaeological assessment by Colum Giles in 1980 as part of the WYAS/RCHME Rural Houses Survey. The photographic images produced by the assessment are held by WYAAS. The fieldwork report is transcribed below:
'This is a stone house, dated 1683. It is of two storey, faces south and is built of coursed rubble masonry, quoined at the angles.
The south front retains much of its original detail. The windows lighting housebody, parlour and the chamber over the parlour have recessed splayed mullion windows; the rest of the windows have flush splayed mullions. A continuous hood mould runs over the south front; it has been cut away at the west end to make way for later higher windows. The main doorway has a square chamfered surround with a recessed 'Tudor' arch; the lintel is inscribed 'J N T N 1683'.
The doorway led into a passage running right through the house; the passage has subsequently been blocked by the stair. The east of the passage is the housebody, heated by a fireplace backing onto the entry; the fireplace has a wide opening and a broad chamfered surround. It is not clear if this fireplace is original; the existence of a two light fire window suggests that the housebody was heated by a firehood, but, on the other hand, the spine beams of the room are stop chamfered against the stack. The evidence is, therefore, contradictory; perhaps the most likely interpretation is that the late date here meant that the firehood itself was abandoned but that the convenience of the fire window was retained.
To the east of the housebody lies the parlour; this is heated by a stack on the gable wall, but it is possible that this is an addition. The stack has only a shallow projection into the room, and the narrow chamfer around the fireplace suggests a later date. At the west end of the house is a featureless room which may once have been a shop or service room. A thick stone wall divides it from the passage, but this is probably an insertion, for it runs uncomfortably close to the window surround.
Behind east and west cells are further rooms contained within outshuts. It seems that the north door of the passage was recessed the surface of the wall to give a sort of internal porch. Behind the housebody is a two storey rear wing, giving a kitchen heated by a stack on the north gable. One of the beams in the kitchen is stop chamfered against the stack, indicating that the heating is original.
The site of the stair is not known. The first floor gives a number of chambers'.
(Giles, C. (WYAS/RCHME). 1980. 'Oldfield, Warley').
The 18th century barn apears to have been demolished on current on line map resources (http://www.bing.com/maps/. Web site accessed 23/01/2014). |