Cliff Farmhouse

Cliff Farmhouse, now a house, dates to 1696, as indicated by the lintel inscription, and has been altered. It is constructed of coursed squared sandstone with quoins on a plinth of large blocks, and has a stone-coloured tiled roof with a brick chimney at the left gable. The building follows a two-and-a-half bay end-baffle-entry plan with a central lateral staircase, and includes a lean-to addition at the left end and a single-storey rear wing. The main sections are two storeys and an attic. The doorway at the left end has a slightly arched lintel with panelled raised lettering reading “M”. On the front, a four-light window is present in the first bay, and a three-light window in the second; a single mullion remains in the first of these windows, with the rest of the openings having been altered to casements. Between these windows, at a mid-level, is a round-headed stairlight. All of these openings are topped with hoodmoulds, with the hood mould over the doorway running out over the adjacent housepart window. At the first floor, a round-headed light is above the doorway and a three-light and a two-light window have been altered to casements. The left gable has two small attic windows. The right gable wall has two round-headed single-light windows on each floor, and a two-light attic window. The rear elevation has two formerly mullioned two-light windows at ground floor, two similar windows above, and a square and a round-headed single-light window, all with chamfered surrounds. Internally, the inglenook fireplace features a stone heck with a moulded cap, a peephole, a chamfered bressummer supporting two chamfered beams, all with tongue stops. Post-and-rail timber framed partitions are present in the staircase bay. The second bay was formerly unequally partitioned, but this partition has since been removed. Chamfered beams are visible on the first floor. The roof structure consists of two collar trusses with angle struts and two pairs of purlins. This is a good example of an unusual and localized building plan, similar to Morris Farmhouse and Warth Farmhouse in the same parish, and Marsh Farmhouse in Brindle.