Building record 953/0/53 - Nos. 10 & 12 Harbidges Lane (Formerly The Old Kings Head Public House?)

House. Circa late C15, remodelled in phases during C16 and C17. Cob rendered and partly rebuilt in coursed stone rubble and later patched in brick. Corrugated asbestos roof cladding over thatch (some original thatch survives), with gabled ends, north east gable coped and with remains of small finial.

{1} House. Circa late C15, remodelled in phases during C16 and C17. Cob rendered and partly rebuilt in coursed stone rubble and later patched in brick. Corrugated asbestos roof cladding over thatch (some original thatch survives), with gabled ends, north east gable coped and with remains of small finial. Stone axial and gable end stacks with later brick shafts. L-shaped on plan. Main front range of hall, through passage and low left (S) end, and a cross-wing at right (N) end consisting of 3 rooms. The whole building was originally open to the roof and heated with open hearth fires. The insertion of stacks and floors occurred in phases but it appears that the hall's axial stack and possibly the hall chamber were formed while the low (S) end remained open to the roof with an open hearth fire. The low end's and possibly the cross-wing's gable end stacks and floors were installed later during the C16 or C17. The axial passage at the back of the hall was formed in C18. 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 3 window east front; right hand gable has blind attic window and remains of small finial to coping. All C20 casements except for 3 on ground and first floor on left which are C19 3-light casements with glazing bars. 2 partly glazed doors on left, that to left of centre has chamfered stone jamb. Centre of front wall rebuilt in brick in C20. At rear various small C19 and C20 casements, C20 porch and brick rebuilding under eaves; projecting gable-ended wing on left. Interior: virtually unaltered since C19. Low end room has axial partition, roughly chamfered cross beams and large gable end fireplace with chamfered cambered lintel with cyma stops. Hall has chamfered axial beam with straight cut stops and large fireplace with chamfered lintel. Panelled partition to axial passage at rear of hall. Two front rooms in cross-wing have unchamfered beams and west end room has chamfered cross-beam with cyma stops and fireplace with chamfered lintel and oven. Roof: 2 bays of hall have central cruck truss with tenoned collar, arched braces, struts, cruck blades joined by yoke at apex for square-set ridge-piece; large trenched purlins and curved wind-braces, all smoke blackened. Truss between hall and through passage is cruck with halved and lapped collar, and yoke for square-set ridge-piece which is carried over low end; pilaster infill smoke blackened on low side. Two trusses over wing with collars halved and pegged to cruck blades which are joined at apex by large yokes for square-set ridge-piece; large trenched purlins and one curved wind-brace remains; all smoke blackened; smoke blackened thatch, rafters and battens survive at junction of the two roofs.

{3} Old Kings Head Public House, Harbridges Lane. Stone building with a thatched roof. Shown on Ordnance Survey map of 1900 as Public House. The structure is a listed building. Film 6, photo 16.

{5} Last year a building with cruck spurs (the short timbers that run from the cruck blade to the top of the framework of the side walls) was found in Long Buckby. It comprised a three bay building fronting Harbidges Lane with a two storey side wing of two or three bays at the north end. The elevations of the building were a glorious mixture of sixteenth century stonework, local eighteenth century bricks and modern flettons. In the wing and at the rear were traces of cob - a material extensively used for barns in the village.
The ground floor had a wide flagstoned through-passage and an inglenook fireplace with a circular stone stair against it giving access to the first floor. This last feature made it impossible to get furniture and coffins up or down from this floor and so necessitated the construction of a trap door in the kitchen ceiling. An inspection of the first floor rooms showed that these features were secondary. The roof structure was supported by full crucks with soot stained braced collars and windbraces indicating the building had an open hall of two bays which did not respect the through passage underneath. At eaves level there were the cruck spurs but these rested on cob walls showing that cob was the original building material and that the stone and the brickwork of the elevations were refacing and rebuilding materials.
The queen-struts going from the collar to the cruck blades immediately suggested a fifteenth century date. At that date the village of Long Buckby had a market and was a small town prospering from the wool trade. In the latter period it was well known as a centre of Woolcombing. This building in Harbidges Lane is large and certainly not a low status building of the medieval town. No details of its status has been obtained from documentation but it would not be unreasonable to consider it to be the dwelling of a mercer or wool factor. The fact that they used cob to build the house is a considerable surprise as it is generally considered to be an inferior building material. Regrettably there are no other medieval vernacular buildings in the present village of this date to see if this is an isolated example of the use of cob. By the late sixteenth century stone was the predominant building material in the town and cob was reserved for barns and garden walls. As well as being unusual in having cruck spurs this building is also notable as it has full crucks. Although there are several stone buildings in the county with full crucks they are not common; includes sketch of truss

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 6/303 (checked) (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), F04 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN44900.

<3> BALLINGER J., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Long Buckby (Industrial), (part checked) (Digital archive). SNN100506.

<4> Foard G.; Ballinger J., 2000, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Long Buckby, (unchecked) (Report). SNN101574.

<5> GIGGINS B.L., 1986, Northamptonshire Buildings - Two Crucks, CBA Grp 9 No 16 1986, p.76-79 (Article). SNN47468.

<6> Crank, N. (Editor), 2017, South Midlands Archaeology (47), p. 34 (Journal). SNN111362.

Record last edited

Mar 5 2024 3:47PM