Listed Buildings

Listed buildings in Fincham with their Historic England Official List Entry

Grade 1

 Church of St. Martin

Parish church. Mid C15, restored 1847 and 1870. Flint and carstone with ashlar dressings. Leaded roofs. West tower, nave, aisles and chancel. 3 stage tower with angle buttresses to belfry. Plinth with course of pointed trefoil arcading. Arched west door under square C19 surround. 4-light west window above. 2-light ringing chamber window south and one-light west. 3 light C19 belfry windows. Battlemented parapet with trefoil arcading. Gabled south porch with angle buttresses and carved parapet bearing inscription 1852, the date of restoration. South aisle with stepped flushwork buttresses leading through flushwork crenellated parapet to pinnacles with crockets and finials. 3-light 4-centred panel tracery aisle windows between buttresses each with stepped transoms. Clerestory windows of 3 lights with rising super- mullions and scissor motif. All windows with brick relieving arches. Rebuilt nave parapet. Chancel rendered. 2 3-light windows as aisle. Arched priest’s door and crenellated flushwork parapet. 5-light east window elaborated from aisle type. North chancel obscured by 2 storey vestry of c.1500 : gabled with pantile roof; trefoil lancet to east with moulded hood on labels. One chancel and 5 north aisle windows as before. Plain stepped buttresses to north aisle plain parapets. North clerestory 2-light single reticulation units. 2-light window in nave east gable head under square hood on labels. Interior. Tall, heavily moulded tower arch on polygonal bases. 5 bay arcade : lozenge piers with fillets east and west. Double chamfered arches. Capitals only on south side. Windows above apex of arches. Hammerbeam roof with alternating braced and unbraced hammer-posts, which are in form of angels. Moulded arched braces to collars. One tier butt purlins and ridge piece, both moulded. Aisle roofs of arched braces to principals with pierced tracery spandrels. Chancel screen : 2 bays of 3 lights to right and left of arched central opening. Solid dado with 3 trefoiled arches each bay and painted flower scroll. Moulded stiles and muntins. Double cusped central opening and side lights arched with tracery head above curving transom. Chancel roof : short hammer-posts on arched braces to corbels. Arched braces from hammer- posts to collars. One tier moulded butt purlins and ridge piece. Early C12 font with square bowl on 5 columns, each with roll capital and base. Each face of font of 3 arches of continuous arcade, each roll moulded arch carried on cushion capital, circular engaged column and moulded base. Above and below are dog-tooth decoration. Figures fill arches. South : the nativity with manger, ox, ass, Mary and Joseph; east : the 3 magi; west : Baptism of Christ with St. John the Baptist and a bishop; north : Adam and Eve and a serpent in The Tree of Knowledge.

Grade 2*

 Fincham Hall


Manor House. c.1500, remodelled late C16 and C19. Brick, clunch and ashlar dressings. Roofs of plain tiles. North front of 2-3 storeys. A composition of 3 gables with polygonal brick tower at north-east corner. Tower c.1500 : arched door to ground floor which is lit by cinquefoiled arched lights. Upper floor with arched lights below square hood moulds on labels. Machicolated cinquefoil frieze below string course and stepped battlemented parapet. Facade with renewed hollow chamfered 3 and 4-light cross casements of rendered brick. Blocked 2-light casement in west cross gable. C19 battlemented entrance porch between cross gables with arched entrance beneath square hood. To left early C17 blocked doorway : semi-circular arch flanked by fluted Ionic pilasters supporting entablature with finials, all in strapwork tradition. East wall with large stepped internal chimneybreast culminating in pair of renewed diamond flues. South front of C16 construction now studded irregularly with C19 sash windows with glazing bars. 3 C18 casements to east cross wing. One bay western addition of early C19 with sash windows and gabled roof. Interior. Screen truss remains, arch braced to heavy wall studs in western range. Bridging beams with tongue shops. Timbered screens passage now blocked by staircase. Roof structure renewed : C19 King post roof over main range; east cross wing with C18 butt purlins and collars.    

Grade 11

                                  First World War memorial with Second World War additions.

MATERIALS: Portland stone.

DESCRIPTION: Fincham war memorial is located in the churchyard of the Church St Martin (Grade I-listed). It is prominently situated by the churchyard retaining wall, facing the road and visible to passers -by.

The memorial takes the form of a short Latin cross with a sword of sacrifice carved within it. The cross rises from a square pillar with a simple moulded foot, on top of a two-stepped plinth and square base. The pillar is gabled to all four sides, each with tracery detail and a finial at the apex; it carries the inscriptions and names in leaded lettering.

The principal inscription is on the south face and reads: TO THE GLORY OF GOD,/ AND IN AFFECTIONATE AND/ GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE/ OF THE MEN OF THIS PARISH,/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES/ IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914-1918. The east face has 11 names; beneath each one are the details of whether the men were killed, wounded or missing in service during the First World War, the related location and date. The west face is the same and carries the names and details of 12 men. The north face has the Second World War inscription: 1939-1945/ (5 NAMES).

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: The memorial stands within a small, square gravelled area enclosed by four small, decorative metal posts painted black and joined by chains.

Fincham Primary School and Old School House

Former National School. East-west block and school house of 1848 by John Stimpson of King’s Lynn. North extension 1875. Rubble carstone with gault brick dressings to 1848 elements, carstone slips with gault brick dressings to remainder; slate roofs, of fish-scale pattern to school (plain to south roof slope). EXTERIOR of school: one storey. C20 brick extension to north front of 1848 wing. Gable-end stacks east and west, that to west partly external. West gable with 2 quatrefoil vents in gable head. East gable rebuilt 1875, of carstone slips. 4-light mullioned window to ground floor and an arched niche in stack for school bell. South front with one 4-light mullioned stone window, the lights arched, under a square hoodmould on label stops. 3-light timber casement to left. Single-storey teacher’s office attached to south-west corner, of carstone slips and rubble carstone to west gable, otherwise English bond brick. Date plaque in west gable head: 1848. North extension of 1875 of one storey; 3-window range. West elevation with 2 4-light mullioned timber windows, and an additional narrow single-light window to north end. East elevation with outshut with 2 4-light windows and a 4-centred doorway in north gable end. Single-light window in main wall to north. Stack emerges through outshut roof. North gable end with ventilation light in apex and polygonal capped finial with pattern of quatrefoils in fields. North porch with similar finial above a shield in a square field inscribed with dates of building and extension. North doorway within arched and moulded surround on label stops. Blocked slit lights to east and west returns. INTERIOR: 2 main rooms, that to the east-west wing with a dividing partition incorporating an elevated panelled gallery on square timber posts. Boarded scissor-braced roof. North-south wing with similar boarded roof and a folding glazed timber doorway between the 2 parts. EXTERIOR of school house: one and a half storeys; 3-window range. West side with full-height gabled extension to north and 2 through-eaves gabled dormers to south, the upper floors each with one 2-light casements. 4-light mullioned casement to ground floor of north extension and 3-light window to centre bay. The extension with a timber porch on south return and a door with 4 vertical panels. Similar door beneath south dormer. Twin-flued octagonal stack on north wall-plane, and a similar stack between gable end of higher roof line and the south bay. East elevation built over existing boundary wall: no window or door openings. INTERIOR: 3 rooms to each floor. Plank doors on strap hinges throughout. Centre room with staircase within boarded and plastered partitioning. Coved cornices to 2 north rooms. First floor rooms open into each other. Plank doors, that to the centre with 4-paned overlight.


Ivy House

House. c.1740. Gault brick with pantile roof. 2 storeys with dormer attic. 3 bays. Central door under semi-circular hood, obscured by timber porch. Door with 3 arched lights. Tripartite sash window to right, single sash to left. 3 sashes to first floor, all with glazing bars under segmental arches. Gabled roof with 2 flat-topped dormers with casements. First floor additions at rear under catslide roof. TF 60 NE FINCHAM HIGH STREET (south side)

Shrublands

House. Early C18 with later addition. Brick with pantiled roof. 2 storeys in 3 bays with a further bay added to west in mid C18. Eastern block symmetrical. Panelled door in fluted doorcase under square hood supported on scrolled console brackets. Flat brick string course. Sash windows with glazing bars, those to ground under segmental arches. Bell-based gabled roof. External stepped eastern stack and rebuilt stack at original west end. Tumbling to gable heads. Western bay with similar details but moulded brick eaves cornice. Internal gable stack. TF 60 NE FINCHAM HIGH STREET (north side)

Retaining wall of church yard of St. Martin

Wall. C17 and later. Brick, stone and tile coping. Supported at intervals by sloping buttresses. Wall ramps up to gates at right and left.

Barsham House

House. Dated 1842. Rubble construction with gault brick facade and slate roof. 2 storeys in 4 bays. Portico porch offset to right on Tuscan columns. Sash windows with glazing bars under gauged skewback arches. Gabled roof with internal gable stacks. Shouldered gable parapets. Datestone on east gable head. TF 60 NE FINCHAM BULL’S LANE

 Barn south-east of Playter’s Hall

Barn. Early C18. Timber framed with brick infill or weatherboarding. Asbestos roof. Brick plinth. Full height doors at west. Gabled roof. Close studded wall posts with diagonal bracing. Tie beams on straight braces with spurs to wall plate. Queen struts to collars. Braces from collars to principals. 2 tiers staggered butt purlins.

Holly House

House. c.1830. Flint and ashlar construction with gault brick facade and slate roof. 2 storeys in 3 bays. Central door with panelled reveals, over- light and flat door hood. Sash windows with glazing bars under gauged skewback arches. Clasping giant pilasters at corner of facade and 2 flanking door. Modillion eaves cornice. Hipped roof with 2 symmetrical stack

 Talbot’s Manor House

House. C18. Brick with plain tiles, pantiles and slate roofs. Original early C18 block of 2 storeys to west, reduced by additions under catslide roof to east to one storey. C20 fenestration. First floor window treated as dormer on east front. Stack protrudes through roof to right. To left early C18 2 storey gabled cross wing now with C20 casements and panelled door to right. Triple gault brick ridge stack. Late C18 2 storey facade in 3 bays. Central panelled door under 5-vaned fanlight. Fluted pilasters right and left and C20 gabled timber porch. One early C20 bay window with sashes left and right. 3 renewed sashes first floor. Dentil eaves cornice. Gabled roof, hipped to east.

 Playter’s Hall

House in 2 blocks. Early C18 north block, mid C18 south block. Whitewashed brick with black glazed pantiles to south and plain tiles to north ranges. North block of 2 storeys and dormer attic. 2 renewed casements to ground floor under segmental arches. One late C18 casement first floor right and one renewed to left under basket arch. Gabled roof, with C20 gabled dormer in centre. Internal gable end stacks. Roof renewed 1958. Principal range to south of 2 storeys in 5 bays. Central panelled door behind portico porch with flat entablature. Sashes with glazing bars under gauged skewback arches. Bell based gabled roof with internal gable stacks right and left. South gable head with tumbling. To rear gabled cross wing with early C18 3 and 4-light casements. TF 60 NE FINCHAM HIGH STREET (north side)

 Nelson House, Pump Cottage, Nelson Cottage

3 houses in L shaped block. c.1600. Timber framed, replaced by brick in C18. West wall of carstone with Barnack quoins. Pantiled roofs. West wall of south range with one 3-light diamond mullion window within sunk quadrant surround. South range of 2 storeys with central panelled door. One 3-light casement left and right under segmental arches. 3 flat-headed casements to first floor. Gabled roof with rebuilt multiple flued diamond stacks. East range of 2 storeys and dormer attic. 2 doorways and 8 windows of scattered disposition and type, but including 4 C17 leaded casements. 4 flat dormers in gabled roof, hipped to south. Rebuilt ridge stack and wall stack. Interior of eastern part (Nelson House) retains winder staircase, bridging beams with ogee stops. One pair jointed crucks survive at first floor. Roof now early C18 with one tier staggered and one tier butt purlin.

 The Old Rectory

Rectory, now private house. Early C17, rebuilt C18, rebuilt again 1827 by Donthorne. Carstone, brick and clunch. Pantiled roofs, some black glazed. Half H plan with inserted block in court of 1827. Symmetrical facade. 2 storey central block flanked by remodelled cross wings. Central door behind gabled porch with shouldered gable. One narrow side sash with glazing bars each floor and central 3-light transomed window above porch. Windows within rendered brick surrounds. String course and parapet. Cross wings with bays to ground floor containing 4-light cross casements. First floor windows are 3-light transomed casements under hoods on head stops. Triangular-headed 2-light attic windows. Rear of 2 storeys and attic. C20 canted bay extension to ground floor and scattered fenestration, largely mid C19 sashes but with 2 early C19 tripartite sash windows. 3 flat dormers in gabled roof. Ridge stack right of centre bears date 1624 and is only survivor of original house. Interior has panelled staircase well. Roof of staggered butt purlins. Collars removed and tie beams shaved to floor level.

         Dovecote to Old Rectory

Carstone, clunch, reused ashlar and brick coping. Circular plan. 2 storeys reduced to one. Probably C18 utilising materials from demolished church of St. Michael. Square door with ashlar architrave below piece of inserted lozenge tracery. Interior plain except for row of joist holes for first floor. ~

                                                                                                               
Range of 2 houses and shop including Australian House

2 houses and shop. Mid C18. Whitewashed brick and carstone with pantiled roofs. House east of Australian House : 2 storeys in 3 bays. Central C20 door under pedimented hood flanked by 1 C20 window each side. 3 C18 casements first floor. Low parapet to gable heads on kneelers. Gabled roof with internal end stacks. Australian House : 2 storeys in 3 bays. Central door behind C20 lattice porch. One segmental headed C18 casement right and left and 3 to first floor, under flat heads. Gabled roof continuous with shop to right. Shop west of Australian House : 2 storeys in one bay. Full width double fronted shop facade with panelled door and 5 vaned fanlight. One C18 casement above. Gabled roof hipped at west to return into Swan Lane.

White House

House. Early C17, altered and extended mid C18 and converted to 2 houses, converted to single occupancy C20. Colourwashed carstone and flint with brick dressings; pantiled roof. PLAN: lobby entrance with conventional parlour-hall-services plan. EXTERIOR: south front is 2-storeys; 3-window range. Entrance door to right of centre under segmental arch. 3 mid C20 2-light casements to each floor. T-shaped ridge stack over door, and an internal gable-end stack to west. Ovolo-moulded brick gable kneelers. East and west returns show evidence of the roof raised in C18. West gable with one blocked door and a single-light C20 attic window; west gable with one C20 casement each floor and one similar window to each floor of the rear outshut. C20 door into outshut. Rear (north) elevation with a full-length C18 outshut under a catslide roof, rebated at the east end. 2 plank doors, that to right opening into an external storeroom. 2 C20 2-light casements to east, and one C19 12-paned fixed window to west, lighting the storeroom. Raking dormer fitted with late C19 2-light casement. Stack emerges through roof to east of dormer. Rebated section to east with one C20 casement and an external stack. INTERIOR: parlour to east of stack with sunk-quadrant moulded spine beam with tongue stops. Fireplace blocked with 1970s fire surround. Blocked external door in south wall at east end, fitted with shelving. Hall, to west of stack, with chamfered spine beam and C20 fireplace. 2 plank doors into outshut. Services to west end with boarded bridging beam connecting with the hall spine beam, indicating the services east partition wall is relocated further west. Winder staircase north of the stack, with a studwork north wall. Outshut with kitchens at east and west end. West kitchen with plank door into pantry created by partitioning an area of the west storeroom. Boarded spine beam in east kitchen. East room of first floor with early C19 cast-iron Pantheon-pattern hob grate. West wall with one pair of early C17 cranked rafters (upper crucks). Centre room with one late C18 cast-iron Bath grate. Plain west room, with second staircase to ground floor. Outshut roof of rafters and one tier of taper-tenoned staggered butt purlins. Main roof of C18: rafters, one tier of taper-tenoned butt purlins and collars.