Douglas Bank Farmhouse

WRIGHTINGTON SD50NW LEES LANE 1283-/10/10009 Douglas Bank Farmhouse 07/01/52 - II

Formerly known as Fisher's House. Farmhouse, now house. Dated 1656 on porch; altered, renovated and slightly enlarged c.1973. Very unusual combination of materials: coursed squared sandstone facade with sides and rear of handmade red brick in English garden wall bond (3+1); stone slate roof and brick chimneys. H-plan with one-bay baffle-entry hall-range and 2-bay crosswings, a porch coupled with the east wing and a stair-turret coupled with the rear of the west wing. Two storeys and attic, 1:1:2 windows, with a high moulded plinth. The porch has a Tudor-arched doorway with chamfered surround (eroded), a recessed square datestone over the doorway with raised lettering F H M 1656 and a double-chamfered cross-window above with damaged hoodmould. Otherwise, both floors have double-chamfered mullioned windows, all with 4 lights except that at ground floor of the hall-range which has 5 lights, and all with cavetto-moulded hoodmoulds except that at 1st floor of the hall-range; and the gables of wings have small attic windows (one-light, blocked, to the left, 2 lights to the right with a hoodmould. The east wing has a downspout with rainwater head lettered H F 1715 Ridge chimney in line with porch; side-wall chimney to west wing. The left return wall of the west wing has 2 large C20 windows at ground floor and C20 wooden mullion windows above (2 and 4 lights). The right-hand return wall of the east wing has a long panel of diapering in raised headers, and brick labels over 2 blocked or altered windows on each floor. At the rear the east wing has a Tudor-arched doorway with stone lintel and brick label, and one window on each floor above, with labels; the west wing has reduced restored mullion windows on both floors, the lower with a stone hoodmould and the upper with a brick label; and coupled with this wing is a gabled stair-turret which has a glazed door at ground floor, a large wooden cross-window above, and a Greek cross of raised headers in the gable. (A C20 barbecue chimney now overlaps this turret, and between the wings is a shallow 2-storey flat-roofed addition of c.1973, trying to be sympathetic and failing). INTERIOR: housepart has inglenook with chamfered bressummer, and 2 axial beams, the front one with 2 large iron rings fixed in it (associated with loom?); lateral partition removed from west wing, but Tudor-arched parlour fireplace and lateral beam in former front parlour, and 2 axial beams in former rear dairy survive (the outer of the latter beams with 2 large iron hooks fixed in it (associated with slaughtering?). HISTORY: built by Henry Fisher, yeoman, and his wife Margaret. Combined use of brick and stone unique in this area for this period. [Reference: private report and survey by Garry Miller, 1987.]

Listing NGR: SD5210508485