CHURCH HOUSE, EBBERSTON
By D. CREWS
Church House has been much altered over the centuries and it is difficult to reconstruct the original house format with any certainty. However, there arc many pieces of evidence and items of interest within that give clues to earlier times.
The house sits well back on a bank on the west side of Ebberston Main Street and is dominated by its large projecting chimney stack. One is immediately struck by its massive size compared with the rest of the house. The chimney is in four stages with a chamfered stone plinth and chamfered set-backs at each stage formed into drips at the corners. The top is open with a chamfered surround on all sides. The south face, now rebuilt with random stone walling, contains large squared stone quoins to the E & W ends. These stop just below the top stage and well above the existing roof line which gives evidence as to the original roof heights. During the present reconstruction the stack was found to be divided into three flues with large tie stones forming the internal dividing walls. The NE & NW corners of the stack are built up with large squared quoins which, at the lower stage, are well worn at the corners. It is interesting to speculate on the reason for these - tool sharpening or wear and tear?
The chamfered plinth extends from the stack along the east wall to the main door. It continues along the south wall but stops at the SW corner. There are two gaps in the plinth on the east wall giving evidence of the original positions of large mullioned windows. The plinth to the NW corner continues into the existing boiler room and then stops at the back door heading west. Is this evidence of more buildings to the west? The present west wing is a new addition although during construction many large foundation stones were found but it was difficult to make any conclusions as to their plan. All of the west side of the house at present is reconstruction carried out because of severe subsidence over the last century. This subsidence was caused by new’ land drains laid earlier and also insufficient bonding of the internal cross wall. This points to the fact that this cross wall was a later addition. The main front door has a good quality surround in large stones with a chamfer and finishing with a pyramid stop, with a large stone lintel with a flat four centred arch set back from the face. The style of the door, stack, and plinths would point to C16/C17 date but could be earlier.
The main body of the house consists of semicoursed stone walling. Careful examination shows original construction lines in the east wall. These lines coincide with lines found inside during the renovations and together with the evidence of the two gaps in the plinth line, it can be deduced that these were the positions of two large mullion windows. Occasional darker, more uniform stones can be seen in the stonework and on investigation are found to be surviving parts of these mullion windows reused with the moulded section hidden. The south gable has ‘a plain stone coping terminating with Cyma curved shaped kneelers. During reconstruction work the SW kneeler was found to be made from a section of an originally ornate fluted column - evidence of an earlier grander house? The present roof is red clay pantiles with a stone ridge. Evidence of the original roof can be found in the garden walls which contain large stone slates approx. 300 x 500 mm with a fixing hole to the top. They have a very rough cleft face. The boiler room contains evidence of a small original mullion window in the form of a moulded cill but as this appears to be upside down it may be that it was a reused stone. However above this room and adjacent to the stack there is the remains of an original window opening with a stone lintel.
Internally, although now totally rebuilt and decorated, there was much evidence of previous building work both in the floors and the walls when these were exposed during the renovation work. The floor, then a concrete slab, was removed and this revealed many interesting features. To the N end near the fireplace, there were a variety of coins found stuck in the mud base in a square grid pattern. These had obviously fallen between the cracks in a stone flagged floor and dated from a 1795 George III two penny piece. To the south end of the main living area there was an obvious area of settlement of approx. 200 mm and various stones were evident in the floor. On excavation this proved to be the remains of an original cellar with a curving stone stairway leading down into it. The infill was full of broken clay pipes and pots etc. dating this to late 19C. Excavations revealed a stone flagged floor with a 300 mm wide drainage channel around the edge. This channel goes under the existing cross wall and appears again in the SE corner, thus proving that the cross wall is a later addition. There are two square holes in the floor lined with stone approx. 1200 mm and 400 mm deep. These would appear to be a well and drainage sump. The surrounding walls are made with a very hard mortar joint similar to that used on the chimney. The SE corner contains some evidence of a window opening but this could be a later addition when the cross wall was built. It would appear that this cellar was probably a sunken courtyard area with a well for the original house. Could this be the origins of the story about the tunnel at Church House?
At the North end there is the large ‘inglenook’ fireplace with a massive stone Tudor arched lintel formed in two halves. Evidence remains of the original shape - a flat 4 centred arch - but this has been cut away to possibly give more headroom for a later inserted 18C fireplace. (Now installed in the West wing). There is a salt box to the E face inside and excavations showed remains of various brick ovens to the W side. The present window is in the place of an original opening probably a spice cupboard. Above the stone lintel there are the remains of a segment of a large timber mill wheel. This is there to act as a relieving arch and was probably inserted when the floor levels were reduced. The 2nd floor fireplace is of the same format but approx. a third size and is to the E side. The base of this is approx. 350 mm above the existing floor level thus showing the original floor height. There is an inscribed date lightly carved into the lintel of 1635. This would seem to be a later addition and is possibly the date of the major reconstruction when the floors were lowered etc. There are also a number of masons’ marks on the stonework. The shape of the mark (see fig 1C) occurs in the Catalogue of Masons Marks in Yorkshire (Journal of the British Archaeological Ass. 1954 Third Series xviii) and is the mark used in St Stephen’s Chapel in York Minster (Ref 017) between 1361-1400. Since these marks were rarely repeated, could this be the same mason moving Out into the country from York to find work? It is a distinct possibility and would point to the date of the original building as around C14. On the second floor there is a third fireplace which has only one jamb remaining and this projects through the existing roof line. This again shows the original floor height.
There is a wealth of timber work in the building mostly in oak but with wide pine board flooring. The roof trusses and main beams have been reused more than once as shown by the many mortice holes. A dividing wall was uncovered during the renovations which had been formed of random sections of oak panelling with a carved frieze. This was roughly nailed together and had Hessian stretched across the panels to flatten them. Newspaper was pasted over the nail heads dating from 1894 and then whole heavily wallpapered. Two doors are also surviving which when stripped of later paint work showed the outline of the original serpentine hinges. This panelling was originally washed with a grey/blue colour, and has the mouldings mitred at the top corners but a plain chamfer mould to the base and side rails. This is a throwback to the stone masons techniques and this, the hinge shape, and the style of carving would point to an early Tudor date. This panelling has been saved and used to make the bed in the main bedroom, and the doors to the dining room and bedroom. The dining room contains an oak fireplace formed with two fluted pilasters with a carved head (now removed) and three inverted consoles with flat panels between. This would seem to be made up and is probably the remains of a bedhead. Various other panels have been found throughout the building. The piece now in the recess of the main chimney was found being used as the back panel of the 2-hole earth closet. This has a simple carved frieze and contains a keyhole so was probably the front of an oak chest. Again this would point to a Tudor date.
Conclusions:
There is a lot of evidence throughout the house pointing to an early Tudor date or possibly earlier. The arrangement of the floor levels, the massive size of the main fireplace and the evidence of the broken plinth line would suggest that the house was much grander in form and that the present building is the remains of the East wing of a large manor house. The following is the conclusion of a report made by The Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (No 49/43496). “The Victoria County History gives an account of the complicated history of the Manor of Ebberston. There were several major landowners in the parish in the Middle Ages but it appears that there were two principal manors, one for Ebberston Upperby and the other for Ebberston Netherby. This land was amalgamated into a single holding in 1566 when Thomas Etherington inherited Ebberston Upperby through his wife Margaret - only daughter of William Middlewood, and Ebberston Netherby was conveyed to him by Gabriel St Quentin. Church House is large enough to be almost certainly a manor house and therefore might be the Manor House of Ebberston Netherby conveyed in 1566.
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