Building record 3136/2/1 - Chester House & Attached Cottage to East & Attached Walls to South & West

Farmhouse, now 2 dwellings. Late C17 and C18. Regular coursed limestone with slate roof. Originally 4-unit plan, probably with lobby-entry now T-shape

{1} Farmhouse, now 2 dwellings. Late C17 and C18. Regular coursed limestone with slate roof. Originally 4-unit plan, probably with lobby-entry now T-shape. 2 storeys with attic. Main front of 5-window range of 2- and 3-light stone-mullioned windows with leaded lights and hood moulds. 2 windows at ground floor right have C20 casements. C19 wooden porch to left of centre and C20 door to right of centre. Gabled cross wing projecting to left is probably early C18 and has sash windows with glazing bars under guaged stone heads. Small projecting wing to right of cross wing is similar to main house. Ashlar gable parapets and ashlar stacks at ridge and end. Garden front to left of cross wing has 2-window range of C18 sashes with glazing bars at first floor, with centre sash between floors. Two C19 wooden bays at ground floor. Rear is similar with 3-window range of 3-light stone-mullioned windows on C19 stone bay window to ground floor. Limestone walls attached at right angles to right of main front have fragments of ancient capital incorporated. Similar wall attached to left of main front forms part of kitchen garden walls with kitchen garden wall approx. 20m. South-west of Chester House (q.v.). 2 projecting wings to right. Interior not inspected but noted as having original staircase.

{2} Late C17th/C18th farmhouse.

{4} Farmhouse, late C17th and C18th. Water penetration caused by rainwater goods which are in poor state of repair. Some evidence of structural movement.

{5} A large two and a half storey “T” shaped building, orientated east-west on a shallow scarp overlooking the Nene Valley. It is built of a coursed limestone rubble with a roof of Welsh slates and ashlar chimney stacks. The building is at present divided into two residences which are separated at the front by a wall of some antiquity which could represent the location of a demolished wing. This division is probably quite late and just one of numerous changes that have occurred to the building. The main section of the building has been much altered inside and the east end has lost most of its features predating 1900. Despite this there is sufficient information to hint at the building having early, possibly late medieval, origins. The most notable of these are the wall thicknesses which are considerably more than the standard 22” walls of the seventeenth century. Although the exterior of this section is dominated by two and three light stone mullioned windows with hood moulds of seventeenth century style, it will be seen that the majority of these are late replacements or restorations of earlier windows. At the rear is a small square blocked window indicating an earlier form of fenestration. The hall, which is entered from the porch at the west end of the building, has some early features, notably a chamfered spine beam spanning between the external walls and internal walls of solid masonry. Abutting the internal walls are chamfered ceiling plates supported on central timber corbels - a feature usually associated with the sixteenth century. Leading off this room to the south is a curious rectangular extension to the house which has a roof structure running parallel to the main roof structure rather than at right angles to it. From the changes of window levels of the seventeenth century stone mullioned windows and arrangements of the internal floor timbers it would appear probable that this was the position of a seventeenth century, or earlier, staircase. This is matched on the north side of the house by a shallow wing but the roof in this instance runs at right angles to the main roof. This small cross wing has been extended by a tall two and a half storey wing which rises above the height of the main roof. It predates 1756, is constructed of stone and has double hung sash windows and roof dormers. It provided an additional two rooms on each floor which are separated by a dog leg staircase with slender turned balusters. The rooms on the ground floor and first floor are panelled and have corner fireplaces. The panelling and staircase do not appear to be of a single period but range from the late seventeenth century to the mid eighteenth century. Beneath this late wing is a range of cellars which have a sloping passage leading out of the building, underneath the side garden and have a well-formed stone entrance onto the lower garden terrace down. A cellar lies off this passage underneath the top lawn and a similar cellar lies further along which also has an entrance onto the terrace. Further survey and research is required on these features and it is at present assumed that they represent the remains of a formal garden circa 1700. Features: A large sundial on the cross wing circa 1700, panelling in the cross wing circa 1680-1740, domestic cellars, remains of early garden features, reused “Jacobean” panelling in the “hall” with a carved design, one seventeenth and one early eighteenth century panelled door, eighteenth century dog leg staircase, the beams of a sixteenth century first floor, seventeenth century roof trusses. It appears that the building has sixteenth century origins or earlier. The wall thicknesses and arrangement of the building suggests this, as does the garden wall abutting on the east side which has an early form of coping. To obtain a better understanding of this phase it would be necessary to carry out a detailed survey and produce accurate measured drawings. Major alterations appear to have occurred in the early seventeenth century after the acquisition of the site by Thomas Ekins. These included the large scale refenestration of the building. A later member of the family extended the building to create the cross wing and a formal garden. Sometime around 1900 the east end of the building was considerably altered and the majority of the stone mullioned windows “restored”.

{6} Chester House cellar: description of cellars and assessment of condition. Photos.

{12} A fire in 2010 destroyed a large part of the roof and half of the first floor. Photos.

{13} The fire damaged interiors of Chester Farm's farmhouse have been recorded by written, drawn and photographic means, backed up by documentary studies. The results show an east to west aligned building which began as a 17th century vernacular east range with an adjacent north range, the latter dismantled in 1925. To this was added a probably Georgian west range with stair turret. A major remodellng in 1925 improved the house accommodation for the 20th century living, gutting the east range in the process and creating the cottages which survived the fire.

{14} Farmhouse, late C17 and C18. It suffered a serious fire in May 2010, leading to complete loss of the roof and gutting of the interior. Repair of the roof and external envelope was completed in early 2013. A £4m Heritage Lottery Fund grant was awarded in July 2013 to develop the Chester Farm site (including SM and Grade II farm buildings) for heritage, education and commercial uses. Plans have been drawn up as part of a HLF Stage 2 grant to restore the interior of the house for use as a cafe, visitor centre and apartment, and are awaiting consent.

{16} Ground penetrating radar survey undertaken to investigate the possibility of unknown underground features (cellars, vaults) around Chester Farm that may prove a hazard to proposed stabilisation works. Significant features were found on the north and west sides of the house. Previous measured survey had mapped a pair of cellars on the north west side of the house; these appear to have been located successfully at an approx depth of 2.5m to 5m below the surface. A possible second feature was on the north east side of the house between 1m - 7.1m deep. Two features were located on the west of the house. A possible infilled excavation in the south west was imaged at between c.7.7m - 9.7m below the surface. North east of the house was an unknown subsurface feature, possibly another backfilled excavation.

{17} Undated photo.

{20} The house is built of stone. It has a Georgion West wing and is now the farm manager's residence.
It is in good condition but is not outstanding. See photo.

{21} A map of 1756 shows that a small country estate had been formed by this time, incorporating remains of the hamlet of Chester on the Water [SP 96 NW 26]. These include five ruined houses of the C17th, one being a date stone of 1610. In 1756 the present Chester House was approached by a wide drive from the SE flanked by gardens.

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 5/193 (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> 1986, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), G05 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN100394.

<3> 1998, Buildings At Risk Survey, p.49 (checked) (Report). SNN43352.

<4> ENGLISH HERITAGE, 2008, Heritage at Risk Register, 2008, p.40 (checked) (Catalogue). SNN106096.

<5> Giggins B., 1990, Chester Farm, Irchester, Architectural Survey, pp.24-7 (checked) (Report). SNN71035.

<5> Giggins B., 2011, Chester Farm, Irchester: Farm Buildings Appraisal and Interpretation Potential, pp.24-7 (checked) (Report). SNN107469.

<6> Cadman, G., 2006, Note on Chester House Cellar, (checked) (Note). SNN107031.

<7> Cadman, G., 2006, Chester House Cellar, (checked) (Photographic prints (COL)). SNN107032.

<8> Cadman, G., 2007, Chester House, (unchecked) (Drawing). SNN107066.

<9> Postcards showing Chester House, (unchecked) (Postcard). SNN107067.

<10> Carr, J-P., 2002, Irchester Pictures Part 2, (unchecked) (Extract). SNN107069.

<11> CADMAN G.E., 1990, Irchester: field survey notes November 1990, (checked) (Unpublished Report). SNN55223.

<12> Ager, J., 2010, Will Farm Be Able To Fight Back After Fire?, (checked) (Newspaper cuttings). SNN107641.

<13> Soden I., 2011, Chester Farm, Irchester: The Farmhouse (Draft), (unchecked) (Report). SNN108775.

<14> Historic England, 2016, Heritage at Risk: East Midlands Register 2016, p. 57 (Report). SNN110747.

<15> Historic England, 2017, Heritage at Risk: East Midlands Register 2017, p. 65 (Report). SNN111090.

<15> Historic England, 2018, Heritage at Risk: East Midlands Register 2018, p. 65 (Report). SNN111434.

<16> Butler A., 2010, Ground penetrating radar survey, Chester Farm, Irchester, Northamptonshire (Report). SNN107912.

<17> Photographs of buildings in Irchester (Photographs). SNN112806.

<18> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, MHLG (Prov MHLG) Wellingborough RD, Northants 1970, 21 (Report). SNN112993.

<19> Ordnance Survey Map (Scale/date), OS 6' 1959 (Map). SNN112944.

<20> Seaman, B H, 1970, Field Investigator's Comments, F1 BHS 10-JUL-70 (Notes). SNN111541.

<21> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1979, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p. 96 (Series). SNN77380.

<22> Historic England, Undated, Chester Farm, Irchester, BF112962 (Archive). SNN116239.

Record last edited

Dec 16 2024 1:07PM