Raby Fold Farmhouse And Cottage

Farmhouse and cottage, probably dating from the later 17th century and altered during the 18th or 19th century, located at Raby Fold, Wrightington.

The building is constructed of coursed sandstone rubble with quoins and has slate roofs. It forms a modified T-plan, comprising a two-unit baffle-entry main range on an east-west axis, a small porch-wing projecting from the south-east corner, and a rear wing that includes a secondary 17th-century one-unit dwelling (the cottage) with a small extension at its end. Various alterations, particularly at the junctions between these elements, make the historical relationship between the three components uncertain.

The building stands two storeys with attics. The south facade of the main range has a chamfered plinth and large irregular quoins. It presents a two-window front with the current entrance on the east side. Two 4-light windows appear on each floor, all with recessed cavetto mullions; those at ground floor have a continuous hoodmould, all except the upper right are fitted with saddle-bars, and those to the right at ground floor and to the left at first floor contain 8 leaded panes in each light. The right-hand jambs of the windows to the right are abutted by the rear wall of the wing, which on this side is of random rubble not keyed-in and appears to have been added later. A rebuilt gable chimney stands to the right, and a tall chimney occupies the left corner.

The left return wall, including a rear outshut that appears to be a remodelling of a formerly gabled wing, has a plain plinth. Two 2-light windows appear on each floor, mostly with simple slab hoodmoulds; the lower right is blocked with rubble, the upper left has the left light rendered and is broken at the left corner by the outshut roof slope, and the other two lack mullions. The rendered gable shows the outline of a blocked 3-light attic window.

The right-hand return wall, including the small wing, is of continuously coursed rubble except for the gable of the main range, which has been recently rebuilt. It has a high chamfered plinth and a slightly Tudor-arched doorway at the left end with chamfered surround and a cambered lintel heavily weathered but bearing remains of a date "..93". An inserted doorway and two inserted windows appear in the rebuilt gable. At the corner of the rear wall is a 2-light mullioned firewindow.

The rear wing, constructed in two builds of unequal length, has a 2-light mullioned window with a hoodmould at ground floor of the shorter first portion. A vertical joint marks the junction with the cottage, which has quoins to both this and the outer corner. An inserted doorway opens to the left, and one 3-light sliding sashed window appears on each floor. The eaves have been raised by three courses, and a rebuilt gable chimney is present. The gable wall has a small single-storey extension and a very small square window offset to the right at first floor. The west side has a blocked 3-light window with chamfered brick mullions and an inserted or altered doorway to the left with a batten-and-board door inside out and opening outwards, probably formerly protected by a lean-to.

The interior contains many 17th-century features. The main range has a timber-framed partition and rear walls, fine round-moulded beams with tongue-stops, and an inglenook in the housepart with a bressummer matching these beams. Cross-corner chimneys occur in the parlour and the chamber above it; the latter has a small 18th or early 19th-century grate. Batten-and-board doors on both floors are fitted with fleur-de-lys strap hinges. The rear cottage has another inglenook with moulded bressummer, a large lateral chamfered beam, and a spiral-newel staircase in the corner to the left of the inglenook, which continues to attic level.