Duddon Old Hall

Duddon Old Hall is a farmhouse dating to the late 16th century, with a graffito date of 1772 and alterations and additions made in the early 19th century and a late 19th-century restoration of the timber framing. It is constructed partly of timber framing on a stone plinth, and partly of washed brick. The roof is of graduated stone slate, with some Welsh slate, and there are projecting stone stacks at either end, alongside a plastered ridge chimney. The building has a plan comprising a hall and crosswing.

The south front is two storeys high and four bays wide. The left-hand bay is timber-framed and projects under a barge-boarded gable. This bay features a five-light ovolo moulded wood-mullioned window, with smaller four-light windows at high level on either side. The timber framing within the ground storey incorporates studding, while the first floor and gable display lozenges and shaped balusters, with lozenges and serpentine struts in the gable itself. Carved brackets and tiebeams are also present. The second bay has a wooden doorcase with a triangular pediment, leading to a six-panelled door. Windows in this section are two- and three-light casements set under flat wedged stone heads and stone sills. A graffito date is visible on the right-hand end. The rear gable exhibits diagonal strutting, and a parallel range has been added to the rear.

Inside, a broad entrance hall leads to a hall on the right, which contains an inglenook with a massive oak bressumer and heck post, with a former entry against a screen. The hall has chamfered ceiling beams. To the left of the entrance hall is a parlour, and above is a main chamber, open to the ridge and wainscotted throughout with fluted panels at the top. A moulded stone fireplace with a depressed arch and a six-panelled door with reeded rails are also present. A similar door leads to a cupboard at the top of the stairs. Some wainscotting is found in the bathroom, and another door has curved H-hinges. A room above the hall features deeply chamfered spine beams with run-out stops. A winder stair to the rear reveals a blocked diamond-mullioned window. The rear range originally served as cheeserooms, with the base of a stone press below and whey-rotted floorboards above.

The windows in the crosswing are notable, having previously mirrored those in Church House, Tarvin, and were also used by Douglas at The Bars and the Owen Owen building, Eastgate Street, Chester.