High Bentley Farm

House. Dating from the mid-17th century, High Bentley Farm is constructed of large dressed stone to the south front, with hammer-dressed stone to the return walls and rear. It has a stone slate roof. The building has a hall and cross-wing plan, with a later kitchen wing added to the rear, positioned between the two original wings. The south front presents a three-room facade, treated as three bays. The outer bays are gabled cross-wings, with the left-hand wing projecting forward. Both cross-wings have coped gables, kneelers, and spiked lantern finials. The left-hand cross-wing features double-chamfered mullioned windows with hoodmoulds. These windows have 5 lights to the ground floor, and 4 lights to the first floor, where two mullions have been removed. The return wall of the hall range has double-chamfered windows of 2 lights to both floors. The ground floor window has a hoodmould that extends at right angles, covering the central bay’s ground floor windows, which are double-chamfered mullioned. The large hall window, originally of 12 lights, has lost its transoms and most mullions, and now appears as a 2-light window. Above this is a 6-light chamfered mullioned window that retains only its king mullion. The doorway has composite jambs, a heavy lintel with a Tudor arch, spandrels, and a chamfered surround. The right-hand bay is flush with the hall range and indicates a lesser status with simple chamfered mullioned windows of 5 lights to the ground floor and 4 lights to the first floor. The left-hand return wall of the cross-wing has a gable parallel with the hall range and chamfered mullioned windows of 5 lights, with a 3-light window above. The rear of the house has three gables, the central one projecting forward. An unusual feature is the ashlar-faced return wall with an arch-headed doorway at first-floor level, possibly a high-quality taking-in door for a weaving shop. Another similar doorway is on the ground floor, aligned with the front door, suggesting a through-passage plan. Some chamfered mullioned windows are also present on the rear. All three gables are coped with finials, mirroring those on the south front. A lateral stack has been reduced in height, and some 19th-century flat-faced mullioned windows are also present on the return walls.