Ferry House

HESKETH WITH BECCONSALL LANE SD 42 SE BECCONSALL 4/3 Ferry House - GV II Ferryman's house, now house. Early C18, altered. Mostly handmade brick, with some repairs in modern brick, roof of slate with stone slate on rear slope. T-plan: 2 bays with rear stair turret (modern addition to rear of 2nd bay). Two storeys, walls raised and partly rebuilt in C20; doorway offset slightly right of centre, with pegged wooden surround, gauged brick segmental head, board door; 2 cross window casements on each floor, all with segmental heads (glazing renewed); left gable wall has one similar window on each floor, the lower with original glazing bars. Right hand gable wall has segmental-headed window at ground floor, modern continuation to rear. Chimney at right gable; large external chimney stack to rear of 1st bay (parlour). Rear has full-height gabled stair turret with segmental-headed casement stairlight, 2 little windows at ground floor of right re-entrant. Interior: housepart in 2nd bay, with direct entry; 1st bay formerly partitioned into pantry in front and parlour in rear, now all one room, with a stop-chamfered beam in the parlour end; unusually fine staircase for a house of this size: doglegged, with moulded string, rectangular newels, turned balusters, and moulded handrail. History: built to house ferryman who served crossing of River Douglas on old road from Becconsall to Much Hoole.

Listing NGR: SD4517323176