Historians and architecture buffs will love it. Arachnophobes may not. And anyone with less than £1.75 million to spend need not apply.
Fyfield Hall, a late 12th-century aisled hall and one of the oldest inhabited timber-frame buildings in Britain, goes up for sale this spring.
For lovers of English architecture, this is an extraordinary opportunity. “The main structure of the house has been carbon-dated by an archaeologist at AD812,” explains Willy White, present owner of the property and lord of the manor. “But the latest study working on tree-ring analysis comes in at 1159.”
This ancient aisled hall in the pretty village of Fyfield, near Chipping Ongar in Essex, was largely rebuilt in the early 14th century, albeit in the original 12th-century style. Over the centuries, further additions and extensions have been made: a timber porch and loggia, added since 1945, are the most recent alterations.
Fyfield Hall is now a handsome family home, with six bedrooms, five bathrooms and an adjoining annexe of three self-contained flats. In the main house, there are two kitchens, each with its own Aga, summer and winter drawing rooms, both with inglenook fireplaces, a reception hall (with another inglenook fireplace), a morning room with a stone fireplace and bay window, an office, a breakfast room with a herringbone Tudor floor, and a cellar.
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There used to be a vineyard on the property, but the estate now has three acres of formal gardens, including two large ponds, and a gate to the village church, where the owners of Fyfield Hall have their own pew. There is also reputed to be a tunnel to the church just over the road.
The property will go on sale for the first time in more than a century. The Whites have yet to appoint an agent, but valuations are in the range of £1.75 million to £2 million. The title of lord of the manor would cost extra — although Mr White has not yet decided whether he is prepared to part with it.
Deciding to sell this historic home has been difficult: Mr White is the third generation of his family to live in it. “We have been in the house since 1903. My family moved in first as tenants, and then purchased the property in around 1910. I have spent most of my life there.”
He acknowledges that leaving will be a wrench for him and his wife, Hetty, but they need to move to Radwinter, near Saffron Walden, to be closer to his mother-in-law. “It will be quite hard to leave. It’s great fun here.”
Fyfield Hall is “not obviously haunted”, Mr White says, although the 3rd Lord Scrope, its 15th-century owner, was beheaded for treason in 1415. His headless body lies in the churchyard. “It is a great house with bundles of history and character,” Mr White says. So are there any drawbacks to living in an ancient timber-frame property? “Spiders!” Mr White says.
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“That and the fact that it’s a Grade I listed house, so you cannot adjust anything without permission.”
Anyone considering buying a property like that needs to think very carefully about what is involved: living in a very old home is like owning and driving a vintage car — it is a labour of love. For while you get a sense of history and heritage, magnificent oak beams, leaded windows and stone floors, you may also get low ceilings, small windows and poor insulation. “Don’t buy an old building unless you are prepared to accept its particular character, its quirks, even its warts,” a spokesman for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings says. “It is essential that you adapt to it, rather than trying to iron it into shape.”
If you are considering an old timber-frame property, a survey by a historic buildings specialist is essential. You may also find that getting a mortgage is not easy. Melanie Bien, associate director of the mortgage broker Savills Private Finance, says: “The ability to resell the property is key; lenders tend to prefer three-bed semis that will appeal to a wide range of people.”
Traditional timber-frame properties are not sold often and the prices tend to be very high. St Aylotts, a magnificent Grade I listed house in Saffron Walden dating from 1500, is on the market for £3 million. It has seven bedrooms and four bathrooms, is surrounded by a moat and is set in 286 acres of woodland and farmland.
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Fyfield Hall sale details: 01277 899999
St Aylotts is for sale via Savills, 01223 347147
LONG VIEW
Timber-frame houses used to be thought of simply as quaint, but half a century of patient study by scholars and archaeologists has proved conclusively that they are the oldest houses in England. The earliest timber frames are now dated to the middle of the 12th century and large numbers survive from the 15th and 16th centuries, particularly in Kent, where they were built for prosperous yeoman farmers, and in Essex and Suffolk for rich clothiers. In Suffolk the delightful village of Nayland has 110 listed buildings, 80 of which are substantial medieval survivals.
The classic medieval timber frame is a hall house with a great hall in the centre rising to the roof timbers, where smoke from an open hearth escaped through vents. Clear proof of a hall house is a king post supporting the roof, often concealed in the roof space after ceilings were introduced at a later date. Other frequent features to survive are twin arched doorways at the lower end of the hall leading to pantry and kitchen, as well as wooden mullion windows.
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Timber framing in the West of England is characterised by square panel framing, usually a metre square. In the East of England “close studding” was used, with ranks of vertical timbers making an impressive show. In the North, especially in Lancashire and Cheshire, patterns were popular — chevrons, herringbones and quadrants — as well as exotic magpie (black and white patterned) framing.
From the early 14th century jettied or projecting upper storeys came into fashion and gables, sometimes elaborately carved, were used to emphasise porches, bay windows and oriel windows on upper floors, which often also projected. Medieval staircases rarely survived in modest houses, but the layout of parlour and first-floor solar are often visible at the upper end of the hall.
By the late 15th century great halls were often replaced by a ground-floor hall with a great chamber above, handsomely panelled, both with fireplaces. There was increasing use of lavish plasterwork in the 16th century. Many ceiling beams, now lovingly exposed, may once have been concealed by rich plasterwork. In villages such as Nayland it is possible to buy smaller medieval timber-frame cottages. The smallest great hall identified there is just 9ft long.
Marcus Binney
HOME WATCH
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AGENTS confirm that the market in the Fyfield area is busy. “It is strongest up to £250,000, where the stamp duty step-up to 3 per cent comes in,” says John Sear, of John Sear Estate Agents. “Prices locally are fairly static, but year-on-year the level of sales this January rose twofold.”
He has a range of character properties on his books. None comes cheap. Those with smaller budgets might consider a two-bed flat in Elmbridge Hall, also in Fyfield, a former boarding school. No 4, priced at £299,000, has two bedrooms and a large lounge with vaulted ceilings.
A three-bed cottage-style home in Stanford Rivers with two reception rooms and two bathrooms (one en suite) is on sale for £499,950, while the charming Ongar Bell, a former coaching inn on Chipping Ongar High Street, is on offer at £695,000. The Bell has six bedrooms, a bar room, complete with original counter top, a large kitchen and cellar rooms.