1, 2, 3 and 4, Hoyle House

Hoyle House, Nos 1, 2, 3 and 4

A farmhouse, now four dwellings, dating from the early 17th century and originally built for John Ramsden. The building was subdivided in the 19th century, with part of it rebuilt in 1885 for Mrs M Leigh.

The structure is constructed of coursed squared stone with a stone slate roof. It is two storeys high, comprising five bays. The two left bays were rebuilt in 1885 (originally gabled), whilst the three right bays remain gabled with a rear range; the two right-hand-most bays project forward. Double-chamfered mullion windows are found throughout.

The 1885 work is evident in the two left bays forming No 1, which features a 20th-century door in a quoined surround with a segmental-arched overlight and lintel dated "18 ML 85". On each floor to either side is a transomed four-light window. The ground floor has a dripmould with decorative stops, the right one possibly 17th-century and reused. Shaped gutter brackets, shaped kneelers with finials, coping, and end stacks complete this section.

The 17th-century part comprises Nos 2, 3, and 4. No 2 has a door in an added porch to the right of a transomed five-light window, with a probably three-light window above (now ivy-covered). No 3 has a 19th-century door to the left of a transomed five-light window with a four-light window above under a hoodmould. No 4 has a transomed five-light window with a square light to its left and a four-light window above under a hoodmould. The two right bays feature a continuous ground-floor hoodmould, a valley gutter spout with a ram's head (a Ramsden symbol), shaped kneelers, coping and finials. A corniced stack stands between the right-hand bays, with a truncated external stack to the right.

The rear elevation shows the 17th-century part in three bays, with the outer bays gabled. The left bay has a shouldered external gable stack, and the central bay has a four-light window and a two-light window (now reduced to one light) to the first floor. The right return has a hoodmould that returns as a string, with a blocked Tudor-arched doorway to the left of an external stack and a 19th-century doorway with a short two-light window above it (now one light). To the right of the stack is a 19th-century doorway and five-light windows to each floor.

Internally, No 3 contains significant 17th-century features. A low, chamfered Tudor-arched fireplace is present, with a chamfered, quoined Tudor-arched doorway to its left. Quoins in the wall to the left of this doorway possibly indicate that the rear range is an addition. The opposite wall also has a quoined angle and a wall plate with part of a surviving panelled partition wall. Between the front and rear rooms is a plank and muntin partition wall, with stiles and rails featuring grooved decoration and a door on the right with two decorated arched panels and a lintel with an incised cross. Chamfered spine beams are present. The first floor contains more panelling with grooved stiles (inserted). In the roof of the rear range are two king-post trusses with V-struts and wind braces, with a similar truss in the front roof.

A datestone removed from the ground-floor fireplace of No 2 and reset in its front wall reads "17 IN 37", the initials being those of Isaac Naylor, who came into possession around 1731. His father, Anthony, had acquired the property in 1720.