Eton Wick

35. ETON WICK.

(O.S. 6 in. lvi. N.W.)

Secular

(1). Bell Farm, 500 yards N.W. of the Church of St. John the Baptist, is a two-storeyed house, timber-framed, with brick filling, built in the second half of the 14th century, with subsequent additions and alterations.

The house is of especial interest, as the complete plan of a mediæval domestic structure of wood has been preserved.

The plan was originally H-shaped, with the wings projecting towards the N. and S., the hall being in the central block, the solar in the W. wing and the kitchen, etc., in the E. wing. Towards the end of the 16th century a parlour, with a room over it, was built, filling the space between the wings on the N. side and projecting towards the N.; a floor was inserted and a fireplace built in the hall, and a small newel staircase constructed in the N.W. corner of the kitchen; a chimney stack and fireplace were added on the W. side of the solar wing. The hall, now the kitchen, was of two bays; the entrance and screens were at the E. end, but all trace of these and of the doors opening into the kitchen, pantry, etc., were destroyed when the fireplace was inserted; a passage has been cut off from the W. end and has two doorways, one opening into the parlour, the other into the solar wing; the newel staircase is entered from the E. end of the hall and gives access to all the rooms on the first floor, except part of the kitchen wing, now forming a loft and reached by a ladder; the lower floor of the kitchen wing is used as a storehouse. In the 19th century the whole building was much restored and the exterior considerably altered.

Elevations:—The kitchen and solar wings are gabled at each end; on the S. side the gables and the S. wall of the hall are partly covered with modern tile-hanging, and the lower part of the wall has been re-faced with brick; the small open porch is modern. On the N. side the walls are covered with plaster and the 16th-century addition is gabled. On the E. side part of the timber-framing is exposed and has plaster and brick filling. The chimney stack inserted in the hall has been re-built above the roof; the stack on the W. side of the solar wing and another on the E. side of the parlour wing have been re-built above the eaves, but the lower part of both stacks is of 16th-century brick.

Interior:—The parlour has a considerable quantity of panelling of c. 1580, and the room over it is completely lined with similar panelling; in the upper part of the N. wall of the hall, at the E. end, and now on the first floor, is an original window, of two trefoiled lights, now blocked, and covered with whitewash. Of the roof of the hall one complete truss, and remains of the trusses in the end walls still exist; the truss has a cambered collar-beam, with king-post and large curved and chamfered braces forming a two-centred arch. The first floor of the solar has an open roof, ceiled on the collar-beams; the one truss visible has a cambered tie-beam with curved brackets, and a king-post with curved braces, plain purlins and wind-braces.

Condition—Good; exterior much altered.

(2). Crown Farm, on the S. side of Eton Great Common, is a house of two storeys and an attic, built probably early in the 17th century, considerably altered later in the same century or early in the 18th century, and again in the 19th century. The W. front, possibly timber-framed, is covered with rough-cast; the other walls have been re-faced or re-built with brick; the roofs are tiled. The original plan was rectangular, with the parlour and kitchen on the ground floor, a passage between them, and a small staircase wing at the back; a room has been added E. of the parlour, and outhouses N. and W. of the kitchen. The windows on the W. front have plain iron casements

Condition—Fairly good; much altered and repaired.

(3). Farmhouse, about 100 yards E. of Crown Farm, is a two-storeyed rectangular building, probably of the 17th century, but much altered. The walls are of whitewashed brick, with a little timber-framing; the roof is tiled. The lower part of a large chimney stack at the S. end is original; the upper part has been re-built.

Condition—Fairly good; much altered and repaired.