Ackhurst Hall

Ackhurst Hall is a farmhouse, largely of the 17th century, with significant alterations dating to the 19th century. A fireplace bears a date of 1618, and a datestone reads 1686. The building is constructed of stone with a stone slate roof. It is two storeys high and originally four bays wide, with the second and fourth bays projecting under gabled roofs. The ground floor windows are hollow-chamfered and mullioned, with transoms and a continuous drip mould. The first-floor windows in the projecting bays have label moulds. The ground floor has a 3:3:4-light window arrangement, and a timber canted bay window is located to the fourth bay. The first floor has 3:3:4:4-light windows, and the fourth bay incorporates a small, blocked 2-light attic window. The porch to the second bay features a round-arched opening and a studded door. A cross-axial stack is present. The right return side has a projecting lateral stack and mullioned and cross-mullioned windows. The rear elevation includes a gabled bay with mullioned windows and a three-bay 19th-century extension featuring casement windows and a lateral stack. Internally, there are 19th-century alterations. The fourth bay contains timber-framed partition walls with wattle and daub infill, alongside two fireplaces with ovolo moulded openings and inset Tudor heads. The ground-floor fireplace is inscribed “AL 1618 and cross” (referring to Alexander Leigh). A spiral timber staircase leads to an attic with collar trusses, one of which has a turned king post and ovolo-moulded principal rafters. The attic was historically used for the celebration of Mass. Some original two-panel bolection moulded doors remain, complete with hinges.