The HouseMonks Chambers is currently a 5 bedroomed house, build partly of timber frame, partly of brick and with some infills of wattle and daub. It has been extensively modified since its original construction, estimated to be around 1540. Lynn and Chris purchased Monks Chambers in October 2001.
This section of the site presents the house as it currently is. It shows the existing decoration and what repairs and decorative updates we are making. For detailed information on the history of the house, see the History and Construction parts of this site. Outside of The HouseOriginally, the building was detached and divided into four small cottages cottages. It has been modified and consolidated over time to create the current single house. Also, against the north wall of the property two other cottages (nos. 2 and 3 Church Lane) were built in approximately 1804. The outside of the house has been rendered using a hard cement based render (not a good thing to do to an old building) and has a mix of old and more modern windows. Each side of the cottage has a slightly different appearence. The east wall is adjacent to Church Lane and is the most traditional looking appearence, with an early wooden door and old lead casement windows with shutters. The south wall is where the main entrance now is and is adjacent to the parking area of the drive. This wall also has old windows, although these are slightly more modern than those on the east wall. The porch on this wall appears to be a fairly recent addition. The west facing wall has been updated over time and now has modern windows (we might put originals back in in the future). There is also a small patio area down towards the snug. Ground FloorThe ground floor of the house is made up of seven rooms: Hall, Living Room, Main Bathroom, Kitchen, Utility Room, Larder and Snug. In around 1805 a large amount of the timber frame in the ground floor was removed and replaced with walls constructed bricks laid in a lime mortar. There is some evidence that these bricks may have come from the original Dunston Manor house which was demoloshed in the late 1700s. During our repair work we have, however, discovered that some of the original wall timbers exists and that there are even a small number of the original wattle and daub panels in the some of the walls. The ground floor walls have not been treated kindely. They have been covered in various combinations of cement render, plaster and Artex, as well as a layer of plastic sheet and hardboard! Many of these walls suffer from significant damp problems. We have now removed all of these damaging materials and are waiting for the walls to dry out. Once this is done the walls will be replastered using traditional lime based products that allow the walls to breate and expel excess moisture (as they were originally designed to do!). First FloorThe first floor (upstairs) of the house is also made up of seven rooms: Master Bedroom, Guest Bedroom, Ensuite Bathroom, Landing, Bedroom 3, Bedroom 4, Bedroom 5. This part of the house still has its full timber frame and is therefore incredibly attractive. We are beginning to decorate this part of the house and expose some of the old oak floorboards that have been hidden underneath carpets and underlay. LoftThe loft / roof space of the house is very interesting as it still contains some wattle and daub panels along with interesting roof support beams. Click the link for pictures and deails of the Loft. Architectural StudyOne area of particular interest is the architecture of the house. We are in the process of undertaking a full architectural study in an aim to relate the house to certain vernacular details. Click the link for details of the current progress of the Architectural Study. |
