52 (Manor House Farmhouse) And Rear Of 56, Church Road

This is a 17th-century farmhouse, later altered in the 18th century, now a house. It is constructed of handmade brick on a plinth of large rectangular sandstone blocks, with a slate roof. The building has an L-shaped plan, comprising two bays. The first bay was originally built as a two-bay crosswing, with a projecting porch at the junction. Adjacent to the crosswing is a short firehood wing, continued on the same axis as the main range to the left. The farmhouse is two storeys high.

The porch, attached to the right-hand side of the first bay, is gabled and has an outer doorway with a stone lintel and a brick label. Above the lintel there is a lozenge of blue headers, and the apex of the porch is broken by a segmental-headed cross window at first floor. The first bay of the main range has a segmental-headed two-light casement window at ground floor and a three-light sliding sash window above, which has been altered to become a top-hung casement. The second bay has a similar window on each floor, and between these windows and the porch is a segmental-headed doorway that has been altered into a window. A gable chimney is present. The firehood wing to the left of the crosswing has a small, blocked firewindow with a stone surround and a brick label. Its gable end incorporates an inserted window and an external chimney stack that has been partly cut down. The main range features a storeyed rear outshut; its gable end has a short brick ledge at first floor and marks suggestive of a former blocked doorway at mid-level. The outshut’s rear wall has a single window on each floor. The rear of the building has been largely altered, with areas of patching where a former back door once stood, and a three-light sliding sash window above. The rear bay of the crosswing, which is now part of the adjacent property at No. 56, has an altered window on each floor, together with an external brick chimney at the gable.

Inside, entry is taken from the porch directly into the lower end of the first bay via an inserted partition that now forms a passage. The beams in the firehood wing are full-width, stopped chamfer beams. The first bay has 1/4-round moulded beams, while the second bay has chamfered beams. A dog-legged staircase is located in the outshut, behind the junction of the bays, with splat balusters concealed by panels. On the first floor of the first bay, stone bearers are visible for a former firehood cap in the gable of the firehood wing. The unusual features of the farmhouse include a two-bay plan with two gable-end firehoods and an extremely unusual firehood wing, particularly for this area—though some comparable examples have been found in the Burnley District. The history of the building is not known.