Sand Hole Farmhouse

Sand Hole Farmhouse

This is a 17th-century yeoman's house built of sandstone rubble with a stone slate roof. The building survives with its original plan and many period features intact, though it has been substantially rendered on its main elevations.

The house is planned as a large, full-depth housebody with a fire-window serving a gable inglenook. A central doorway on the south front, now sheltered by a modern lean-to porch, opens into the rear of the main room. A second doorway in the north wall also opens into the rear of the room; these two doorways do not align, indicating the original room arrangements. Beyond the main room are a smaller parlour, kitchen and larder. A stair window in the north wall marks the location of the original staircase, which rose against or from the centre of that wall.

The south elevation is dominated by a projecting wing to the left. This wing has a wide three-light window on the ground floor with a double-chamfered stone frame and recessed chamfered mullions, topped by a stone hood mould with label-stop to the left. A historic photograph from the 1950s shows a secondary blocked doorway formerly stood hard against the right side of this window, truncating the hood mould. To the right of the porch, the main housebody features a six-light mullioned window and, at the extreme right, a two-light mullioned fire-window. Both have similar double-chamfered stone frames with recessed chamfered mullions and hood moulds running the length of the wall. On the first floor of the wing is a central four-light mullioned window, with its right light blocked, in a single-chamfered stone frame with flush chamfered mullions and hood mould with label-stops. Above the porch is an inserted two-light window with flat ashlar surround and mullion. To its right is a three-light window (with a fourth light on the left now rendered over) in a single-chamfered stone frame with flush chamfered mullions.

The north elevation has a rendered wall and stone slate roof. A doorway set left of centre has heavily chamfered and stopped jambs with a slightly pointed head, sheltered by a single-pitch porch that rises to the left to avoid the stair window. From the left on the ground floor is a four-light mullioned window with a double-chamfered frame with recessed chamfered mullions and hood mould with label-stops. Right of the porch is a square window with a double-chamfered stone frame and hood mould. In the centre of the elevation at intermediate level is a three-light stair window with flush chamfered mullions and partial hood mould. To the left at first-floor level is a three-light window with flush chamfered mullions, and to the right is a four-light window with a double-chamfered frame with recessed chamfered mullions and hood mould.

The east gable wall shows original stone rubble where a former cottage was attached. A blocked doorway at the extreme right has no proper jambs or lintel. Cut-off timber at mid-height, originally projecting northwards, has a larger squared stone on each side, probably associated with the demolished cottage. A rendered stone ridge stack rises from this elevation.

The west gable wall has been rebuilt in brick on top of the original wall, which forms a plinth. A first-floor window is present to the right. A brick ridge stack rises from this elevation.

Interior features of significance include three chamfered oak cross beams, some with visible stops, in the main housebody, with lateral beams in the parlour and kitchen/larder. The stone chimney piece against the east gable wall has been reconstructed since the 1950s.

The roof structure retains original details: a hewn collar beam truss with curved struts, infilled with wattle and daub and plastered, with a small central doorway. A second similar truss probably exists to the east but is not accessible. The roof also has hewn purlins, a ridge post, and joists on the north side (which has the original stone flag roof). Towards the west end, a modern machine-sawn king-post truss supports the original purlins.

The farmstead is documented in deed papers surviving from 1726, but the form and layout of the house indicate a 17th-century date. The house originally stood with an attached cottage (now demolished), an L-shaped barn, and a cowhouse and stable range, all shown on the 1851 Ordnance Survey map. Additional agricultural buildings were constructed during the 20th century. The west gable wall was rebuilt in brick following the 1950s.