Holly Bank, Formerly The Doctor'S House

This is a late 17th-century house that was altered, probably mainly in the 18th century, with subsequent changes. It is built of stone-dressed brown brick with grey slate roofs. The front elevation, dating from the 18th century, is three storeys high with three windows and a symmetrical appearance, though detailed aspects vary. The front features projecting stone bands on the first and second floors, rusticated stone quoins, and a stone cornice, the upper parapet of which has been removed. A stone plinth with a moulded cap has two former window openings to the cellar on the left side of a late 19th-century gabled brick porch. The lower two storeys have an irregular bond brickwork pattern, while the upper storey uses a less regular Flemish bond. There is a three-pane sash window on either side of the porch, with 4-pane, 12-pane and 4-pane glazing; the left window has a flat brick arch, the right a cambered arch. The second floor has 12-pane sash windows, the central one beneath a repaired flat brick arch, and the others beneath cambered arches. The third floor has low six-pane sash windows and a blocked central opening, all beneath cambered arches. All windows have stone cills. The corner of the roof, likely dating from the 17th century, is visible and offset behind the facade. The rear elevation, which is rendered, has a decorative band and two gables with kneelers. The interior features two and three-panel oak doors. The cellar has stone and bedrock walls and reuses a slotted, chamfered beam. The front parlour on the left side contains an altered inglenook and a roughly chamfered oak main beam. A rear left room has a stop-chamfered beam system and oak panelling inscribed with various names and dates, including John Leech (1729), RMRB Esq (1741), IW (1756), RB Esq (1724), and TH (1771), some of which have been repositioned. Another rear room features roughly chamfered beams. The kitchen (in a rear wing on the right) has a ceiling frame with two roughly chamfered beams and one 17th-century moulded beam with housings and open mortices on the rear side. A moulded oak bressumer spans the corner of an outhouse behind the kitchen, dating from the 17th century or earlier. The staircase has six flights and two landings, with dropped square newels and two barley sugar balusters per step. A bar-stopped chamfered oak beam is found in the front bedroom on the left. The roof structure includes oak purlins.