| Abstract: |
A historic building assessment was undertaken in June 2022 at The Rose and Crown, Nether Stowey, Somerset.
The front range represents a well-preserved medieval three-room-and-cross-passage house, probably of the very late Middle Ages – the late 15th or early 16th century. Although the original divisions of the house at ground-floor level and the western end of the roof have been lost, the first floor retains three substantial primary partitions and thus the evidence for the original plan. At a later stage, probably in the 17th century, the hall was enclosed and a new two-storey chimney added at the rear of the range. The earlier suite of two chambers to the west was now augmented by a second suite of rooms at the eastern end. The building seems to have remained essentially unchanged until the early 19th century, when the truance was widened to form a carriageway and staircase, the façade was remodelled and the roofs enclosed with modern ceilings.
The east range is a very complex structure and its interpretation is difficult; however, it is suggested that it originated as a single-storey kitchen block. The early building was enlarged, perhaps in the early 16th century. In the 18th or 19th centuries a small trapezoidal room was created linking the south and east ranges, infilling part of the small triangular courtyard between the two buildings.
The west range also contains early fabric, though it is not well preserved and the original function of the range is uncertain. The northern part of the building may have served as a brewhouse, malthouse or possibly a stable before it was partially incorporated into the inn kitchens in the 19th century. The front range represents a well-preserved medieval three-room-and-cross-passage house, probably of the very late Middle Ages – the late 15th or early 16th century. Although the original divisions of the house at ground-floor level and the western end of the roof have been lost, the first floor retains three substantial primary partitions and thus the evidence for the original plan. At a later stage, probably in the 17th century, the hall was enclosed and a new two-storey chimney added at the rear of the range. The earlier suite of two chambers to the west was now augmented by a second suite of rooms at the eastern end. The building seems to have remained essentially unchanged until the early 19th century, when the truance was widened to form a carriageway and staircase, the façade was remodelled and the roofs enclosed with modern ceilings.
The east range is a very complex structure and its interpretation is difficult; however, it is suggested that it originated as a single-storey kitchen block. The early building was enlarged, perhaps in the early 16th century. In the 18th or 19th centuries a small trapezoidal room was created linking the south and east ranges, infilling part of the small triangular courtyard between the two buildings.
The west range also contains early fabric, though it is not well preserved and the original function of the range is uncertain. The northern part of the building may have served as a brewhouse, malthouse or possibly a stable before it was partially incorporated into the inn kitchens in the 19th century. |
