Lower House Farmhouse

Lower House Farmhouse is a farmhouse dated 1654, now functioning as a house. It is constructed of brick with a stone plinth, quoins, and dressings, topped with a concrete tile roof featuring one chimney on the ridge and another behind the ridge at the right end. The building has a three-bay baffle-entry plan with a short outshut at the rear of the third bay and part of the second bay. It stands two storeys tall.

At the junction of the first and second bays, there is a two-storey gabled porch that features a moulded stone entrance with a Tudor arched lintel, complete with a hoodmould above it. Above the lintel is a datestone set in an arched frame, displaying worn lettering: E ; H C 1654.

On three sides at the first floor level, there are three-light windows with segmental relieving arches, and the apex of the gable displays a lozenge pattern of headers. The left side has one window on each floor, while the right side has two windows on each floor. Originally, all these windows were six-lights with chamfered brick mullions and unusual paired segmental relieving arches; however, the ground floor windows have been replaced with casements, and those on the right have stone heads.

The right gable wall features four windows, three of which have single segmental relieving arches, with two of these containing two chamfered brick mullions. The rear wall has windows with brick hoodmoulds, some of which have chamfered brick mullions. The back door to the first bay has moulded stone jambs and an arched lintel with a dripstone above it. The ends of two inglenook bressummers are exposed.

Inside, the farmhouse retains an unusually complete collection of period features, including back-to-back inglenook hearths with bressummers, beams with depressed quarter-round moulding and stops, a spiral newel staircase located in the outshut, and a quarter-turn staircase in the kitchen. Original board doors and a cross-corner parlour fireplace are also present.

Historically, the farmhouse belonged to the estate of the Charnocks of Astley. Its construction during the Commonwealth period and the use of brick from a nearby quarry are notable features.