Source/Archive record SEM340756 - Historic building recording at Little Stamborough, Old Cleeve, Somerset

An archaeological building survey and monitoring and recording was undertaken in order to satisfy Listed Building Consent. Works included hand excavation of the existing floor surfaces in the kitchen and dining room. No archaeologically significant deposits were noted. An account of the history of the property, together with a descriptive, measured and photographic record, is also provided. Stamborough is recorded by name from 1781, and may also be referred to in earlier 18th Century documents. Little Stamborough is closely associated with the development of Stamborough and Stamborough Barton farmsteads in its later history, and for a time served as agricultural labourer cottages. The building is suggested to have originated with a three room and cross passage plan, with an open hall defined by low screens and heated by an open hearth or hearths, indicated by smoke blackened roof timbers. It was remodelled in around the early 16th Century, with first floor rooms added above the inner and service rooms; however, the hall was still heated by an open hearth. In the late 16th or early 17th Century, the open hall was enclosed and a large chimney and fireplace inserted, which may not have also served the newly created chamber above. Other rooms were remodelled and may also have changed function at this time, and a new two storey wing was added westwards from the south end of the house. The building appears to have been divided into three separate smaller dwellings in the early to mid 19th Century, as a result of a decline in status; however, it was once again remodelled to become a single occupancy in the 20th Century.