Northern Farmhouse At Low Town

This is a farmhouse dated 1750, identifiable by the initials WAE (William and Elizabeth Alder) above the front door. The front elevation is constructed of squared stone, while the remaining sides are of roughly-squared stone. The roof is predominantly Welsh slate, with patches of stone slate, pantiles and asbestos sheets on the rear slope. One stack has been rebuilt using white brick.

The main two-storey section of the house has two plus one plus two bays, arranged symmetrically. It features a chamfered plinth. The central entrance is a flush-panelled door with a simple overlight. Windows are mostly sashes with a two-pane upper section and a plain lower section, with the exception of a plain sash above the door. The gables are coped and sit on moulded kneelers, with stepped and banded end stacks. Returns to the sides display blocked attic windows. Adjoining the right side is a one-storey, two-bay section with a vertical-panelled door on the far left. This section also includes a 20th-century casement window and a sash window that has lost its original glazing bars; the right-hand end stack has been rebuilt. The rear elevation features a contemporary outshut with a steep catslide roof, and two windows with four panes of glass.

Historically, the farmhouse functioned as a coaching inn when the lane through Low Town formed part of the main route between Newcastle and Cornhill.