C O N T E X T 1 3 4 : M A Y 2 0 1 4 27 REBECCA MILFORD Birdcombe Court’s heart of oak A Grade II* listed house in North Somerset with an almost intact early medieval hall and solar roof structures has been refurbished, extended and returned to a single dwelling. Birdcombe Court stands close to the village ofWraxall in North Somerset. In its present form, the house dates back to the 13th century. However, there is evidence of Anglo-Saxon and Roman settlements in the immediate vicinity, and it is thought that much of the fabric of the existing dwelling was salvaged from these. In 1837 a Celtic bronze torque of a first century clan chieftain (now in the British Museum) was discovered on the site, as well as various human remains, thought to be the victims of an earlier skirmish. The Gorges family, influential Normans, owned the house for many centuries, adding the striking tower in the 15th century.The magnificent cross-beam ceiling timbers of the Great Hall date back to the early 14th century. Only one truss of the three-bay roof survives.Vernacular specialists have identified this early base cruck combined with true cruck form as being particularly rare, and not normally found later than the 14th century. The solar wing is, unusually, at the low end of the hall, possibly as a result of the gradient of the surrounding site rising significantly to the north of the hall.This made the construction of a wing in that location too difficult. A 1960s ceiling conceals the decorative roof trusses: the two tiers of cusped wind braces on the dentilated wall plate have been dated using dendrochronology to 1441. The extent of the structural problems was fully revealed when the historic roof structures were exposed. In addition to a considerable amount of rot at the base of one of the principal trusses in the Great Hall, there were further problems with the solar roof. Significant additional repairs were required. The client wanted to restore, refurbish and rationalise Birdcombe Court.An extension was designed to tidy up the elevations, and allow better flow and access through the different sections of the building.The house, which had been subdivided in the 1970s, has been returned to a single dwelling. The parking at the front of the property has been removed to provide a new point of access. The use of the rooms and the circulation have been rationalised. Tonic Architecture felt that a heritage assessment should first be undertaken to understand the impact A heritage assessment was carried out to understand the impact of the proposals. The extension under construction.
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