Harden Hall

Harden Hall is a large house, now divided into two occupations, dating from the early to mid-17th century with later additions of 1691 and alterations in the early 18th century. It is constructed of hammer-dressed stone, with stone slate roofs. The building follows a hall-and-crosswing plan, comprising three cells with a further addition to the rear of the third cell, covered by a two-span roof. A kitchen wing was added at a right angle to the rear of the second cell. Most windows are double-chamfered mullioned, except for the ground floor of the first cell, which is a gabled wing featuring two sash windows with plain stone surrounds; a five-light window is above, topped by a coped gable with a lantern finial. The hall, comprising the second cell, has a six-light window, and a former three-light fire-window has been altered to a doorway with two four-light windows above. The third cell features a former doorway, now a two-light window, to the left of a four-light window, with a matching two-light window above. A coped gable with a lantern finial is present to the right. A large central ridge stack is a prominent feature. The rear elevation includes the kitchen wing, which exhibits a bullseye window with a weathered date plaque set above the first floor, and a coped gable with a stack. The rear of the wing has a four-light window on each floor, and a tall corner stack. The left-hand return wall (wing) has a tall external stack with projecting rainwater spouts to either side. The right-hand return wall contains the inscribed dates "1691 EFIF." Other mullioned windows, coped gables, and three stacks are found on this range.

Inside, the hall has large spine beams and joists with ogee stops, a bressumer incorporating a panelled board-and-muntin heck screen. A 17th-century staircase features finely-turned oak balusters and newels, with oak panelling below. A front room in the wing contains large raised-and-fielded panelling with a dado rail and a casement-moulded plaster cornice, and a spine-beam. A rear room has a corner fireplace and a large spine-beam supported on a wooden corbel to an oak post, perhaps indicating an earlier timber-framed house. An upper chamber includes a king-post truss with 12-inch struts braced to the ridge. The third cell contains a large arched fireplace.

Harden Hall is a fine house retaining much of its original window arrangement and several interior fittings. Together with the garden wall, gate piers, and two large barns, it potentially preserves an unaltered 17th-century appearance better than any other building in the parish.