Lower Moor Farmhouse And Attached Barn

This is a farmhouse with an attached barn, dating back to the second quarter of the 17th century. The barn incorporates a mid-16th century timber-framed interior. The farmhouse is constructed of thin coursed hammer-dressed stone, with parts rendered on the barn, and has a stone slate roof. The barn, which is double-aisled, has a wide gable set at right angles to the house, forming an “L” shape. The farmhouse originally had a 3-room through-passage plan with a 1 ½-story porch on the south front.

The front of the farmhouse is two stories high and includes a single aisle to the rear. The barn to the left has a gable flush with the front of the house. An unusual feature is the removal of the service end of the house, which is integrated into the first bay of the barn’s aisle. The barn’s central doorway has a large lintel and composite jambs (now blocked), originally leading to an end mistal or stable with a hay loft above. Rectangular ventilators are in the gable and at the apex. The farmhouse has double-chamfered mullion windows, including a 4-light window with a 3-light window above on the first floor. The porch projects forward and is faced in ashlar with a Tudor arched doorway featuring a moulded surround and spandrels. A single arch-headed light with spandrels is set in the gable, which is coped with kneelers and a sundial finial. Another window is located on the first floor to the right, set above a 2-light fire window. There is a 6-light window to the housebody, with a 4-light window above on the first floor, and a 5-light window to the former parlour, also with a 4-light window above on the first floor. A string course runs around the porch and over the ground floor windows, except those at the service end. The rear of the farmhouse has quoins and three chamfered mullioned windows of 2 lights, and one of 4 lights to the left, alongside a modern inserted 17th-century style double-chamfered mullioned window of 3 lights. A doorway in the through passage has a shallow arched lintel. The barn has tall cart entries on either side, set within the aisle portal.

Attached to the east end of the farmhouse is a 2-story, single-cell cottage dating to the late 19th century, with a higher roofline of little architectural interest, and a gable stack. There are three other stacks along the ridge, one backing onto the through passage.

Inside, an oak segmental arched doorway leads from the through passage into the housebody, and a similar doorway with an ogee lintel leads into the former parlour. The housebody retains a bressumer, a heck-post (with a screen realigned in the passage), and a salt cupboard with an oak frame and a door carved with a decorated lozenge and butterfly hinges. A timbered arcade leads to the aisle, which incorporates a tie beam reused from a post of an earlier barn. The roof is a king post roof with single angle struts. The barn has a fine timbered interior with post-and-truss construction, queen strut trusses, curved braces to the tie beam and arcade-plate, and large wall ties to the aisle.

This is an unusual building, showcasing the incorporation of the service end of the house into the barn. It is believed to be a contemporary stone encasing of a timber-framed barn. The farmhouse retains its principal features and serves as a fine example of a yeoman clothier’s house.